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EARLY HISTORY OF 
IDAHO 



By 
W. J. McCONNELL 

Ex.-U. S. Senator and -Governor 



WHO WAS PRESENT AND COGNIZANT 

OF THE EVENTS NARRATED 



PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE 
IDAHO STATE LEGISLATURE 



CALDWELL. IDAHO 

Sty? Qlaxtfltt pintera 

MCMXIII 






Copyright, 1913 
by 

W. J. McCONNELL 



The Caxton Printers, Caldwell 

©CU354964 



The author of "The Early History of Idaho" 
respectfully dedicates this book to the pioneers 
ivhose camp-fires and cabins first marked the 
advent of civilization into the mountains and 
valleys of Idaho; the men and ivomen who trans- 
formed the silence of nothingness into the hum of 
industry and enterprise. May their children, and 
their children's children long enjoy the boon of 
freedom and prosperity bequeathed to them by 
their valiant and tvorthy ancestors. 

—W. J. McC. 



CONTENTS 



Chapter I. — Introductory 15 

Fifty Years Have Elapsed Since Author Came 
to Idaho, 15; Tribute to Those who Were the 
pioneers, 16; "Left Wing- of Price's Army" Hon- 
est and industrious, 24. 

Chapter II. — Origin of the Name Idaho 27 

Early Explorers and Hardships Endured, 30; 
Establishment of Port Hall, 33; Establishment 
of Old Fort Boise, 34; God Has Been Good to 
this Land, 35. 

Chapter III. — Early Settlements - - - 36 

Establishment of Spaulding Mission, 1836, 36; 
First Flouring Mill — Difficulties Overcome, 37.; 
Discovery of Old Mill-stone, 38; Miss McBeth's 
Devotion to Duty, 39; Coeur d'Alene Mission, 
40; Des-Met Mission and Indian Farms, 40; 
Beneficial Influence of Missions, 41; First Agri- 
cultural Settlement in Idaho, Established 1855, 
43; Location of Fort Lemhi Mission, 45; Hostile 
Attitude of Indians, 47; Brigham Young Visits 
Port Lemhi. 50; Mission Enlarged the Third 
Season — Indians Warlike, 51; Fort Lemhi — 
Farms and Improvements Abandoned to the 
Indians, 53. 

Chapter IV. — Gold Discoveries - 55 

First Discoveries of Gold, 55; Oro Fino An Im- 
portant Mining Camp, 1861, 56; Nez Perce In- 
dians Friendly to Whites, 57; Influx of Crimin- 
als to Mining Camps, 59; Tragedy in Walla 
Walla Theater, 63; Cynthia Went to the Ball 
in Florence, 65; A Mining Camp Episode — 
Cherokee Bob and Willoughby Attack Rube 
Bobbins and Jakey Williams — Two Funerals, 
66; Henry Plummer.Noted Outlaw, Arrives in 
Lewiston, 66. 

Chapter V. — Outlaws and their Methods - - - 69 

Road Houses Established, 69; Travelers' Ani- 
mals Claimed by Outlaws, 71; Buildings Were 
not Bullet-Proof — Hildebrand Killed, 73; Pat- 
rick Ford Pursued by Charley Ridgley and 
Pulmmer, 75: Ford Killed and Ridgley Wound- 
ed in Oro Fino, 76; Plummer and Jack Cleve- 
land Cross Bitter Root Mountains, 77. 



S EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

Chapter VI. — Discovery of Boise Basin ... 79 

Discovery of Placer Gold in Boise Basin, 79; 
Indians Attack — Death and Burial of Grimes, 
80; Retreat of Prospectors and Return Rein- 
forced, 81; Rapid Development of Boise Basin, 
82; Act Creating- Idaho Territory, 83. 

Chapter VII. — Criminals Active in Mining Camps 100 

Plummer Chosen Sheriff, 100; Masonic Funeral 
on Rattlesnake Creek, 105; Vigilance Committee 
Organized, 10C; Three Robbers Hung by Citi- 
zens in Lewiston, 110; The Discomfiture of an 
Attorney, 110. 



Chapter VIII.— Territorial Offices Established - 111 

Territorial Officers Appointed — Offices Opened, 
111; Governor Wallace Issues Proclamation 
Calling an Election, 112; Idaho Elects Wallace 
Delegate to Congress, 113; First Territorial 
Legislature Convenes, 114; Members Came Long 
Distance on Horseback, 115; The Legislators 
Brought Blankets, 117; Gold Discovered on 
Rocky Bar, 119; Boise Barracks Established — 
Town-site of Boise Located, 120; Settlement 
Above Horseshoe Bend on Payette, 121: First 
Watermelons and Beautiful Immigrant Girls, 
123; My First Visit to Placerville, and Im- 
pressions Formed, 124; "Snapping Andy" Too 
Snappy for Hickey, 125; Mayfield Becomes the 
Leading Character at a Funeral, 127; First 
County Officers of Boise County, 128; An Act 
Concerning Jurors, 129; First Term District 
Court of Boise County, 134: Remarks of Sam- 
uel Parks, District Judge, 134; Idaho City in 
the Summer of 1864, 136; Hotels and Restau- 
rants in Idaho City, 137; Dance Halls and 
Dancing Girls, 138; John Kelly, Famous Violin- 
ist, 139: An Artist and Magician with the 
Bow, 140; 



Chapter IX. — Magruder Murder — Pursuit, Arrest 

and Conviction of the Murderers ... 142 

The Magruder Tragedy on the Lo-Lo Trail, 
142; First District Court Held in Lewiston, 151: 
Period When Idaho Had no Law, 152; Hill 
Beachy Visits Scene of Magruder Tragedy, 154; 
Highway Robbery in Idaho not a Crime. 155. 

Chapter X. — Act to Create and Organize Ska- 
mania County 161 

Walla Walla and Skamania Counties Include 
Idaho, 161; Idaho and Nez Perce Counties Cre- 
ated by Washington Legislature, 164; Boise 
County Created — Act Providing for, 165; First 
Officers of Boise County Named in Act, 166; 
Nez Perce County Created by Washington Leg- 
islature — Act Amended. 16 8; Act Creating Sho- 
shone County Amended, in 1861, 172. 



CONTENTS 



Chapter XL— Early Events ------ 180 

Volunteers Engage Indians on Malheur, 180; 
Demise of Captive Indian Boy Adopted by 
Kelly, 181; Shot-gun Messengers on Coaches, 
182; Idaho's Mountain Streams Give Up Their 
Hoarded Wealth, 183; E. D. Holbrook Elected 
to Congress, 184; Newspapers Sold for One Dol- 
lar Each, 185; "Strange that Death Should 
. Mean Life," 186; Formula for Beverage Called 
"Sheepherders' Delight," 187; March of Pro- 
gress in Valleys, 187; Clouds Bore Laughter 
on Their Wings, 190; "Eyes Spoke Love to 
Eyes that Spoke Again," 191; Horse Ranches 
Contiguous to Mining Camps, 192; Graduated 
as Stage Robbers and Horse Thieves, 194; 
Nomination Equivalent to Election, 194; Resi- 
dents of Frontier Dislike Horse Thieves,' 196; 
Relentless Persons Sometimes Pursued, 198; 
Jerusalem Raided by Horse Thieves, 202; Pur- 
suit and Recovery of Stolen Animals, 202; 
Meetings Preliminary to Organization of Set- 
tlers, 203; Organization of "Payette Vigilance 
Committee" 206. 



Chapter XII.— Bogus Gold Dust and Other Things 207 

By-Laws Provide Trial By Jury and Mode of 
Punishment, 207; Traffic in Bogus Gold Dust 
208; Operator Given Time to Leave Country, 210 
Pickett Corral Crowd Corral Vigilante, 211 
Irish Miner "Makes Good" Although Drunk, 212 
Occupants of Washoe Ferry Challenge Vigil- 
antes, 215; Challenge Accepted and Advance 
Made, 216; Lieutenant Paddock and Men Guests 
of Junction House, 217; Captain Crosses Snake 
River at Central Ferry, 218; Surprise and 
Capture of Washoe Ferry, 220; Trial and Con- 
viction of Stewart Brothers, 223; Verdict Did 
Not Meet Approval of Captain, 225; Prisoners 
Elude Guards and Escape, 226; They Are Pur- 
sued and Overtaken, 229. 



Ihapter XIII. — Human Lives in the Balance 

Council of Pursuers Held on Ice, Snake River 
Frozen, 230; Surrender of Fugitives, "God 
Speed," 232; Last Meeting of Vigilantes in 
Force, 233; Plans Laid to Wreak Vengeance 
on Vigilantes, 234; Denizens of Pickett Corral 
Appointed Deputy Sheriffs, 235; G. W. Hunt 
Makes Difficult and Dangerous Ride to Warn 
Captain, 236; Discomfiture of Sheriff's Deputies, 
239; Holbrook Induces Stewart to Return to 
Boise, 239; Captain Interviews Stewart, Suit 
Withdrawn, 241; Piute Indians Embarrass Set- 
tlers, 242; Boise Donates and Volunteers Re- 
spond, 243; Murder of Raymond by Johnny 
Clark on Main Street of Boise, 245; Citizens 
Aroused to Action, 246; Guard House at Bar- 
racks Captured and Clark Hanged, 249; First 
Sheriff of Ada County Hanged, 256; Idaho Ship- 
ment Sold in Portland, Entails a Funeral, 251; 
Conditions Peculiar to Mining Camps, 253. 



230 



Chapter XIV. — Placerville Tragedy - 

Placerville Tragedy Enacted on Public Plaza, 
256; "Butcher Brown" Has Narrow Escape, 259; 
Would-be Assassin Pleads to Simple Assault, 260. 



254 



10 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

Chapter XV.— Ex-Sheriff Murdered - - - - 261 

Ferd Patterson a Passenger on Portland Steam- 
er, 261; Captain of Ship Threatens to Put Him 
in Irons, 263; The Captain Is Shot and Killed 
in Hotel, 265; Patterson Scalps His Paramour, 
265; Two Classes of Men Who "Shoot Up" 
Towns, 266; Civil Government in Idaho Strange 
Incongruence, 268; Ferd Patterson Enters the 
Lime-light in Idaho, 270; Ex-Sheriff Pinkham 
Killed by Patterson, 272; The Murderer Is Pur- 
sued and Captured, 273; Spirit of Mystery Per- 
vades the Atmosphere, 273; Committee Send for 
Captain of Payette Vigilance Committee, 274; 
Organization Perfected and Officers Chosen, 275; 
Methodist Minister Asserts He Can Fight or 
Pray, 275; Nine Hundred Men Assembled at 
Rendezvous, 277; Captain of Payette Vigilance 
Committee Makes Speech, 278; He Is Chosen 
to Succeed Gilkie the Blacksmith, 279; His 
First Order Relieves Tension, 280; Sheriff Or- 
ders Assemblage of Miners to Disperse, 281; 
Is Refused and Confronted by Armed Men, 282; 
A Calamity was Happily Averted, 285; Court 
Convenes and Patterson Is Tried and Ac- 
Quitted, 286. 

Chapter XVI. — Caleb Lyon Appointed Governor 

of Idaho - 288 

Caleb Lyon Appointed Governor, 288; Thanks- 
giving Proclamation, 289; Conditions Under 
AVhich Idaho Was Settled, 290; Oath of Allegi- 
ance to the United States, 292; Lawyers Re- 
quired to Take Oath, 293; Observance of the 
Lord's Day, 295; Act Was Inoperative, 297; 
Franchises, Toll Roads and Ferries, 297; Olds, 
Beloit & Company Given Franchise, Olds 
Ferry, 298. 



Chapter XVII.— Boise City Chosen Capital - - 301 

Second Session of Idaho Legislature, 301; For- 
eign Miners, Act to Tax, 301; Act to Locate 
Capital of Idaho, 302; Causes Strained Rela- 
tions, Attempt to Segregate North Idaho, 303; 
Boundaries of Nez Perce Extended and De- 
fined, 313; Latah County Created by Act of 
Congress, 318. 

Chapter XVIII.— Many Affairs of Interest - " - 325 

Third Session of Territorial Legislature, 325; 
Governor Lyon Sends Message, Temple of War 
Closed, 325; Liberality of the Third Session, 
327; Members Were Jolly Good Fellows, 330; 
Piute Indians Retard Progress in Owyhee Coun- 
ty, 332; Indians Attack Stage Between Rey- 
nolds Creek and Snake River, 332; Jennings 
and Party Undertake to Punish Indians, 334; 
District Court in Session, Owyhee County "Poor 
Man" Case, 335; Scouts Arrive, General Alarm 
Sounded, 336; Volunteers Depart for Rescue, 338; 
Position Chosen by Jennings for Defense, 338; 
Four Rifle Pits and a Miniature Fort, 339; 
Caton's Diary and Tragic Death, 340; Court 
Adjourned to Allow Attorneys to Join Relief 
Party, 342; Democratic Convention Outclassed 
Republican, Shots Exchanged, 343. 



CONTENTS 11 

Chapter XIX. — Soldiers Suppress Legislative Riot 344 

Membership Fourth Session Idaho Legislature, 
344; Repeal of Oath of Allegiance Passed Over 
Veto, 346; Troops Called by Governor to Sup- 
press Riot in Legislature, 349; Change in Type 
of Immigrants Arriving, 350; Fifth, Sixth and 
Seventh Sessions, 350; Failure of Congress to 
Appropriate Money for Surveys, 351. 

Chapter XX. — Indian Wars in Idaho - 355 

Incongruities of Early Management of Idaho, 
355; Assessors Allowed 25 Per Cent for Col- 
lecting Taxes, 356; Cabins Tenantless and Alone 
Among the Whispering Pines, 358; Occupation 
of Fertile Valleys Brought Hunger to Tepee, 
359; March of Progress Means "Survival of the 
Fittest," 360; Fears of Fathers and Tears of 
Mothers in Bear Lake Valley, 360; Chief Jo- 
seph and Band Go on Warpath, 361; Uprising* 
of the Bannock Indians, 1878, 363; Bannock 
War Caused by Error in Transcribing Treaty, 
363; "Sheep-Eater" Indians Indulge in Game of 
War, 365; No Drones, no Cowards, in the Field 
Those Strenuous Tears, 366; A Difficulty that 
Resulted in Two Funerals, 368; Rube Robbins, 
a Sturdy and Brave Comrade, a True and Loyal 
Friend, 367. 

Chapter XXI. — Constitutional Convention - - 369 

Era of Railroad Building and Permanent Im- 
provements, 369; Bonds of Matrimony Dissolved 
by Idaho Legislature, 370; Proclamation Issued 
Calling Constitutional Convention, 371; Con- 
vention Convenes, Roster of Members, 373; 
Address to the People of Idaho, Issued by Com- 
mittee, 375: Membership of Committee Issuing 
Address, 383; Constitution Ratified, and Admis- 
sion Bill Enacted and Approved, 384. 

Appendix ---------- 385 



EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

HALF a century has elapsed since the author 
of this narrative first came to the then 
wilderness which is now embraced within the 
boundaries of the State of Idaho. Buoyed up 
with the hopes and aspirations of early manhood, 
I faced the duties and hardships incident to life 
on the frontier; secured my share of the harvest 
of gold then being garnered in the placer mines; 
and, more precious still, I won the friendship of 
many of those who came here at the same time 
and on the same errand — the hope of securing 
money to enable us to return to our former 
homes and begin life among our earlier associates. 

Many succeeded and carried out their orig- 
inal intentions; a few lost their lives in the 
effort, and others, I among the number, re- 
mained, each doing his part toward transforming 
the wilderness into a paradise of homes. 

As I take up my pen to begin the manu- 
script of a narrative, or history, of the events 
which happened in this country during its mar- 
velous transformation within the last fifty years, 
my mind takes me back in rapid flight over the 
intervening years and events to the old days of 
the trail before wagon roads were built; the 



16 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

days of the camp fire, the coffee pot and the 
frying pan; the day when men loved their 
friends and, if needs be, fought for them to the 
death; the days of bacon and beans, of black 
coffee, and bread baked in the frying pan before 
the camp fire. 

Where are the gallant men who braved the 
dangers of our mountains and deserts in the 
early 60's, the men who made the long marches 
cheerful, who vied with one another as to which 
should occupy the post of greatest danger? 

In retrospect I see them all as in the days gone 
by; their voices echo in my ears with the. cheer- 
ful comradeship of old; they are nearly all gone 
across the Divide to that other Camp, whence no 
prospector returns. I should prefer to write of 
them, prefer to extol their individual character- 
istics ; prefer to record their deeds of valor, their 
every-day lives as, all unconscious of the good 
they did, they bore the brunt of the battle for 
civilization which resulted in the creation of a 
new state — the addition of another star to the 
galaxy of our national banner. But as the forth- 
coming pages are to be devoted to the gradual 
development of a new country, rather than to a 
paean of praise for those who accomplished its 
transformation, I approach the task of writing 
of events in which they participated with rever- 
ence and awe, and with a mind replete with the 
thoughts that had we known one another better, 
we would have loved one another even more. 

History is relentless, once made it cannot 



INTRODUCTORY 17 

be unmade. Hence the importance of recording 
for future reference and information a correct 
chronicle of events before all who participated in 
them are gone. Mr. W. A. Goulder, now dead, 
recently published a valuable and entertaining 
book, entitled "Reminiscences of a Pioneer," in 
which he makes the following statement: (Chap. 
33, pp. 275-276:) 

"The history of Idaho cannot be properly 
written and successfully placed in the hands of 
the reading public before the last decade of the 
present century for the reason that it will 
require the whole of that time to retire perman- 
ently from the scene the host of distinguished 
personages, all of whom were prominent and 
active in the making of that history. Until the 
last one of these is dead and buried, it would be 
the extreme of rashness and reckless disregard 
of life, and all that life holds most dear, for any 
one to venture upon the task of writing a true 
and impartial account of what has been done in 
Idaho. 

"Take up any one of the many alleged histor- 
ies of Idaho, and you will find that it has been 
written and gotten up by the representatives of 
some eastern publishing house who came very 
late to the state and who stayed just long enough 
to gather the material for the work they were 
hired to do. An inspection of the work will present 
you with a mass of biographies of unknown 
celebrities whose many brilliant achievements are 

2 E. H. I. 



18 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

duly chronicled and whose pictures — resembling, 
for the most part, those of heroes of FalstafFs 
army — embellish its pages and all printed and 
published, as a friendly critic has said, 'at so 
many dollars per pic and per biog.' 

"History, at the best, may be defined as the 
art of selecting, grouping and presenting facts 
and dates in the way required to produce the 
effect that the writer has in view, and has been 
very aptly compared to a child's box of letter 
blocks which can be made to spell any desired 
word. 

"These reflections should not be understood 
as excusing any one from the task of exempting 
him from the duty of writing what he chance 
may know of history or about history. All of 
us can write a little, some of us can write a great 
deal, while there are others who can write entire- 
ly too much. The better and safer plan is for 
each individual to write what he knows to be 
true; what he has seen; what he has done him- 
self, and what he has seen others do; provided, 
he can feel reasonably certain that the. people 
of whom he writes are all dead." 

With the foregoing in mind, yet without 
fear of the living, and imbued with the sacred- 
ness of correctly recording the acts of those who 
are dead, I shall pursue to the end the task I 
have set for myself; glad that some are still 
alive to commend or to censure a narrative in 
which I shall endeavor to include as much of the 



INTRODUCTORY 19 

"good" and the "bad" as is pertinent to the 
subject. 

History is not history unless it is true, and 
there can be no excuse for the alleged historian 
who indulges in flights of fancy when the truth, 
if written, would be stranger and more interest- 
ing than modern fiction. A great deal of inter- 
esting matter has been left out of the historical 
works relating to Idaho which have been pub- 
lished in the past. The reason for this inadver- 
tence has not been that the writers were fearful 
that those of whom they would write, and their 
relatives, were not dead, but that they felt that 
those things were now past and gone, and that 
those acts which were discreditable to the individ- 
ual or community should be allowed to slumber 
in oblivion. Such considerations are commend- 
able, but they are hardly consistent with the 
stern duty of the historian. J> 

A very kindly old man, long a resident of 
Boise, and now bravely coming down the last 
lap of an eventful and useful life, has written 
and published a history of Idaho. In his com- 
mendable and kindly effort to portray the lovable 
people who came here among the first arrivals, 
he states; "I think I may truthfully say that 
ninety-five per cent of those people were good, 
industrious, honorable and enterprising, and to 
all appearances desired to make money in a 
legitimate way." (Hailey's History of Idaho, 
p. 91). 

There were, at the time of which he writes, 



20 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

at least fifteen thousand people in the Boise Basin 
and if ninety-five per cent of them were good 
people, the others, or five per cent, by inference, 
must have constituted the bad; five per cent of 
fifteen thousand equals seven hundred and fifty, 
and if there were that number of bad men dis- 
tributed throughout the limited area included 
within that district, it will be readily understood 
that conditions were sometimes rather tropical. 
But it is probable the writer who made the fore- 
going statement, did not take time to calculate in 
round numbers how many bad men he was charg- 
ing up to that community. 

I do not believe that at any time the propor- 
tion of what would have been called "bad" men 
— even in those days — exceeded one-half of one 
per cent, but, true to the maxim, "birds of a 
feather flock together," they always succeeded in 
making their presence felt — whether in saloons, 
precinct primaries, nominating conventions, or 
at the polls. 

The Century Dictionary defines politics as: 
"The science of government; that part of ethics 
which consists of the regulation and government 
of a nation or state for the preservation of its 
safety, peace and prosperity;" and defines 
"Political" as "pertaining to policy or to civil 
government and its administration." 

The foregoing applies equally to a territory 
as to a state or nation; hence, the policy under 
which the affairs of Idaho were conducted, as 
well as its safety, peace and prosperity, were in 



INTRODUCTORY 21 

the hands and under the control of that political 
party, or organization, that cast the largest vote 
at the general elections. True, the governor and 
most of the territorial officers were appointed by 
the president; but the legislature which enacted 
the laws, the county officers, including the sher- 
iffs, and the justices of the peace, who enforced 
them, were elective. 

Therefore, the question of politics inevitably 
enters into the history of Idaho, as well as that 
of all other territories. But in no place is its 
importance so keenly felt as in a new territory 
such as Idaho, which was largely devoted to the 
mining industry and where a majority of the 
population were migratory, and few if any of 
those who came among the early arrivals intended 
to remain. 

It was the misfortune of the Democratic 
party in Idaho to be in the ascendancy during 
those years; that they were, and why, has been 
explained by Mr. W. A. Goulder in his "Remin- 
iscences of a Pioneer," pp. 282-283. 

In writing of the general election held in 
1864, at which E. D. Holbrook was elected dele- 
gate to congress from Idaho Territory, Goulder 
says : 

"During the interval that had elapsed since 
the election of Wallace, what was then known as 
'the left wing of Price's army* had been scat- 
tering its red plumes and feathers all over the 
vast intermountain region at that time embraced 



22 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

within the boundaries of Idaho Territory. The 
warriors composing this contingent of the Con- 
federate Army, having become tired of the 
restraints and hardships of military life, and 
the apparently hopeless task of confronting the 
hordes of 'Northern Abolitionists' who continued 
to invade and over-run the fair land watered by 
the 'Big Muddy' and its tributaries, had con- 
cluded to resign in a body and migrate west- 
ward, where the more congenial task of taking 
charge of the political destiny of Idaho awaited 
them. And so they came, and continued to come, 
with the ox-whip in one hand and the ballot in 
the other ; and by frequent and persistent voting, 
soon changed the complexion of things political. 

"They were all from Missouri; all Democrats 
by birth and lineage, and had voted for Andrew 
Jackson from times immemorial, until in the 
later days they had transferred their allegiance 
to 'Jeff Davis/ " 

While the foregoing is probably right so far 
as the political affiliations of these overland 
arrivals is concerned, yet it is a mistake to 
credit all of them, or, for that matter, any 
great number of them, with having belonged 
formerly to the Confederate Army. A few had, 
possibly, at one time followed some confederate 
leader, but nearly of them were refugees trying 
to escape the horrors of civil war. Husbands 
and wives, with their children and such of their 
possessions as they had rescued from the wrecks 
of their former homes, turned westward, in fact, 



INTRODUCTORY 23 

fled from the internecine strife which was dotting 
the land with graves. They came in hope of find- 
ing peace, rather than to engage in contests, 
political or otherwise. 

Upon their arrival in Idaho they found the 
political parties here as firmly aligned, and as 
fully hostile to each other as in the country they 
had abandoned. The members of the two politi- 
cal factions were called "Republicans" and "Dem- 
ocrats," the same as before the war; but, at the 
time of which I write, there was only one divid- 
ing line, one paramount issue: Shall the Union 
remain intact, or shall it be dissevered, dis- 
mantled? 

The Republicans in Idaho advocated the 
Union side of the discussion, while the Democrats 
were distinctly and declaredly, as an organiza- 
tion, in favor of the secession of the southern 
states and the establishment of a confederacy 
with human slavery as its cornerstone. Natur- 
ally, the male members of the early overland 
immigration continued with, and supported by 
their ballots, the nominees of that political party 
to which they had, heretofore, given their allegi- 
ance. For, are we not, after all, creatures of 
environment ? 

Had Henry Ward Beecher or Rev. Starr 
King been born and educated in Constantinople, 
they would probably have been strong adherents 
to the tenets of Mohammedanism; had Robert 
Ingersoll been born and reared in Canton, he 
would doubtless have been a follower of Con- 



24 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

fucius, and had Jefferson Davis and Alexander 
H. Stephens, of Confederate fame, been born 
and educated in Massachusetts, it is more than 
likely that they both would have been radical 
abolitionists. 

Exceptions are found to nearly all rules, 
and accordingly, notwithstanding the influence of 
slavery which permeated all the slave-holding 
states, many brave officers and men within the 
borders of the Confederacy remained loyal to the 
Union and the flag. But it is the exception to 
find the individual who has the moral stamina 
or self-assertiveness to rise above, or shake him- 
self free from the religious or political environ- 
ments of his youth and early manhood or woman- 
hood. Then, why should we. censure or criticize 
those immigrants who crossed the plains to 
Idaho in the early 60's, bringing with them, as 
they did, the political prejudices that were inher- 
ent? 

They were, as said by Goulder, "Democrats" 
and the greater number of them were probably 
Secessionists, but they brought with themselves 
those other traits which go to make good citi- 
zens in any country — honesty and industry. 

I met and became acquainted with nearly all 
who became home builders in Idaho during those 
years, and it has never been my fortune to meet 
a more kindly, neighborly or honest class of men 
and women than they. 

I was reared in Michigan on the line of the 
so-called "Underground Railroad," where colored 



INTRODUCTORY 25 

men and women passed in their endeavor to gain 
freedom by reaching Canadian soil. My father 
was a "Free Soil" Abolitionist, hence, as might 
be inferred, I was a Republican, and a Unionist, 
and, as such, I met these people in both a social 
and a business way, and I stand ready now, as 
I did then, to vouch for the many estimable 
qualities and lovable characteristics of those who 
were called "The left wing of Price's Army." 

Their arrival at that time was not conducive, 
however, to the peace and good government of 
the territory, for the reason that the lawless 
element which had come before their arrival, had, 
for their own protection, taken sides with, and 
really controlled the stronger party, which hap- 
pened to be the Democratic. Hence the addition 
of the immigrants to the voting strength of that 
party, gave it full control. 

In those days few men of either party, other 
than the toughs and adventurers, attended pri- 
maries or nominating conventions; hence, it can 
be understood that with their voting strength 
reinforced by the incoming refugees, the nom- 
inees named by the objectionable element were 
easily elected; not because the rank and file of 
the Democratic party were lawless or bad men, 
for quite the contrary was the case, but because 
then, as too frequently happens now, many of 
our citizens do not attend the primary elections 
or participate in the nomination of a ticket. On 
election day they are partisans, and claim to 
vote their principles, and thus frequently assist 



26 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

in placing into office those who -are totally devoid 
of principle. 

Therefore, I reiterate what I have heretofore 
said : "It was the misfortune, of the Democratic 
party to be in control, under the circumstances." 
Having made the foregoing prefatory statements, 
I shall now proceed to embody such historical 
data as will, I hope, be of interest to this and 
succeeding generations. 



CHAPTER II. 

ORIGIN OF THE NAME IDAHO. 

C 4 t DAHO" is generally supposed to be a cor- 
•Eruption of an Indian word meaning "Gem 
of the Mountains." This, however, is disputed. 
Joaquin Miller, the poet, writes as follows on the 
subject: 

"The distinction of naming Idaho certainly 
belongs to my old friend, Colonel Craig (now 
dead) of Craig's Mountain, Nez Perce county. 
As for some fellow naming it in Congress — Bah! 
The name was familiar in 5,000 men's mouths 
as they wallowed through the snow in '61, on 
their way to the Oro Fino mines, long before 
Congress, or any man in Congress, ever heard 
of the new discovery. 

"The facts are these: I was riding pony 
express at the time, rumors reached us through 
the Nez Perce Indians, that gold was to be 
found on the headwaters and tributaries of Sal- 
mon River. I had lived with the Indians, and 
Colonel Craig, who had spent most of his life 
with them, often talked with me about possible 
discoveries in the mountains to the right as we 
rode to Oro Fino, and of what the Indians said 
of the then unknown region. 



28 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

"Gallop your horse, as I have done hundreds 
of times, against the rising sun; as you climb 
the Sweet Water Mountains, far away to the 
right you will see the name of Idaho written on 
the mountain top — at least, you will see a pecu- 
liar and beautiful light at sunrise, a sort of 
diadem on two grand clusters of mountains that 
bear away under the clouds, fifty miles distant. 
I called Colonel Craig's attention to this peculiar 
and beautifully arched light. That,' said he, 'is 
what the Indians call E-dah-hoe; which means, 
the light, or diadem, on the line of the moun- 
tains/ That was the first time I had ever heard 
the name. Later, in September, '61, when I 
rode into the newly discovered camp to establish 
an express office, I took with me an Indian from 
Lapwai. We followed an Indian trail, crossed 
Craig's Mountain, then Camas Prairie, and had 
all the time 'E-dah-hoe Mount* for our objective 
point. 

"On my return to Lewiston I wrote a letter 
containing a brief account of our trip and of the 
mines, and it was published in one of the Oregon 
papers — which one, I have now forgotten. In 
that account I often mentioned E-dah-hoe, but 
spelled it 'I-d-a-h-o/ leaving the pronunciation 
unmarked by any diacritical signs. So that, 
perhaps, I may have been the first to give it its 
present spelling; but I certainly did not originate 
the word." 

A writer in "The New West," who is, appar- 



ORIGIN OF THE NAME IDAHO 29 

ently, well informed, declared that "Idaho" is 
not a Nez Perce word, adding: 

"The mountains that Joaquin Miller speaks 
of may be named with a somewhat similar appel- 
lation, but most likely the whole story grows out 
of the fertile imagination of the poet. Idaho 
Springs in Colorado were known long before 
Idaho Territory was organized. The various 
territories, at their organization, should have 
been given some appropriate local name. Colo- 
rado was named after the river of that name — 
though it is not within its boundaries. It should 
have been called 'Idaho/ which was the first 
name placed in the bill organizing it; but which 
was afterward changed." 

Ex-Senator Nesmith of Oregon gives still 
another account, as follows: 

"The bill first passed the House of Represen- 
tatives designating the present territory of Idaho 
as 'Montana.' When it came up for consideration 
in the Senate on the 3rd day of March, 1862, 
Senator Wilson of Massachusetts moved to 
strike out the word 'Montana/ and insert 'Idaho.' 
Mr. Harding of Oregon said: 'I think the word 
Idaho is preferable to Montana. Idaho in Eng- 
lish signifies 'The Gem of the Mountains.' I 
heard others suggest that it meant, in the Indian 
tongue, "Shining Mountain," all of which are 
synonymous. I do not know from which of the 
tongues the two words Ida-ho came. I think, 
however, if you will pursue the inquiry among 
those familiar with the Nez Perce, Shoshone, 



30 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

and Flathead tribes, that you will find the origin 
of the two words as I have given it above." 

Thus it is shown that among those Who 
were in the country at the time it received its 
name "Idaho/' there is a diversity of opinion as 
to its derivation, as well as to its naming. The 
fact is, however, now beyond dispute that wheth- 
er the word "Idaho" means "Gem of the Moun- 
tains," or otherwise, as applied today, it is the 
cognomen of a state which is a "mountain 
gem" among the sisterhood of states. And the 
women and men who reside within its borders 
are satisfied with the title, and proud of their 
accomplishments; proud of the accomplishments 
of their predecessors who transformed the wil- 
derness and desert into an Eden of happy, con- 
tented homes. 

EARLY HISTORY. 

The first authentic account we have of any 
part of Idaho, is that given by Lewis and Clark, 
who crossed the Bitter Root mountains and 
came down through Weippe to the Clearwater 
river, thence down that stream on the way to 
their destination — the Pacific Ocean. 

When the account of the Lewis & Clark 
expedition became known, great interest was 
aroused, especially among what was then the 
western frontier towns, one of the results be- 
ing the formation of the Missouri Fur Company, 
which established a fort at what was called Fort 
Henry, in 1810, but which was soon abandoned. 



ORIGIN OF THE NAME IDAHO 31 

In 1811, William P. Hunt, and a party of 
sixty belonging to the Pacific Fur Company ar- 
rived at Fort Henry. Moving westward on the 
19th of October of that year, they proceeded 
down the Snake river in fifteen canoes, but en- 
countered so many dangers owing to the rapids, 
that at last it was decided to abandon the boats 
and to divide the party into two sections. Hunt, 
with his guides and eighteen men, to take the 
right bank, and the remainder under the lead- 
ership of a man named Crooks, to take the 
left. Thus they proceeded down the river in the 
hope of reaching the Columbia. They had no 
knowledge of the country nor of the distance to 
be traveled, except such indifferent information 
as was gleaned from the published narratives 
of the Lewis and Clark expedition, which had 
crossed the divide much farther north. 

Through the remainder of November and up 
to the middle of December, the two parties 
stayed apart. What they suffered from the cold 
during that tedious separation may be imagined 
by those who today are familiar with the climate 
on the headwaters of the Snake river during 
late November and December. 

One morning, approximately a month from 
the date of their division, while Hunt's party 
was breaking camp, the voices of their late 
companions were heard calling across the river 
for aid. 

"A vague and almost superstitious terror," 
says Washington Irving, "had infected the 



32 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

minds of Mr. Hunt's followers, enfeebled and 
rendered imaginative of horrors by the dismal 
scenes through which they had passed; they 
regarded the haggard crew, hovering like spec- 
ters on the opposite bank, with indefinite feelings 
of awe and apprehension, as if something des- 
perate and dangerous was to be feared from 
them." 

A species of boat or raft was hastily con- 
structed out of poles, covered with the skin of a 
horse they had killed the day previous for food. 
On this frail craft a little meat was ferried over 
to the half -famished men. One of the men was 
drowned at this point, while several others were 
ill. Thus, being unable to proceed encumbered 
with the disabled members, it was necessary for 
the others to go on and leave them. On the 
24th day of December, they arrived at what was 
afterward the site of old Fort Boise. Being 
still in two parties, one on each side of the 
river. 

"With great difficulty," says W. H. Ban- 
croft, "the river being full of floating ice, and 
the men half starved and half frozen. Weak 
and dispirited, Hunt crossed with his party to 
the other side and joining their comrades, pro- 
ceeded on their westward way." 

This was the first authentic report of white 
men ever having visited and traveled through 
what is now known as Southern Idaho. 

No mention need be made of the suffering 
they endured, to those who are familiar with 



ORIGIN OF THE NAME IDAHO 33 

the volcanic and sage brush wastes over which 
those weary men made their way. 

No record exists of the final end of those 
poor fellows who were left to perish alone, their 
only probable companions the lizards and horned 
toads; their last requiem the howl of the coyote. 

Who can conceive the horrors of such a 
tragic end? Yet, had the blank unwritten pages 
of the early history of our former territories 
been filled in, it might have revealed many sim- 
ilar incidents. 

The next expedition to enter the future Idaho 
was that of Captain Bonneville, who with one 
hundred men in 1834, camped on Port Neuf 
river near where is now the city of Pocatello. 

In the same year Fort Hall was established 
by Nathaniel Worth, accompanied by a well 
equipped party of sixty men. The location was 
selected on the 14th day of June, 1834, on the 
east bank of Snake river, north of Port Neuf. 

"The post became famous," says Bancroft, 
"and performed good service during the several 
great overland emigrations. The emigrant trail 
was made to pass by it, and it was central and 
valuable in scores of ways." 

"From this point in time radiated roads in 
every direction — to Missouri, to California, to 
Utah, to Oregon, and to British Columbia. It 
was near the old war ground of the Bannocks, 
Blackfeet, and Crows, and prevented many a 
massacre. It was several times attacked, and 
nearly burned, but stood to its duty nobly." 

3 E. H. I. 



34 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

In 1836 Weyth was forced to sell Fort Hall 
to the Hudson Bay Company. This company 
having the year previous, (1835) erected what is 
known as "Old Fort Boise" near the mouth of 
Boise river. The original building fell down in 
either 1847 or 1848, but was rebuilt a short 
distance north of where the old building stood. 
The new buildings continued to be occupied by 
the Hudson Bay Company until the United 
States acquired undisputed title to the land. 

Forts Hall and Boise were established, at 
the dates given, for the sole purpose of trading 
for furs with the Indians. The hardy and ad- 
venturous men who constituted their first garri- 
sons had no idea that in their immediate neigh- 
borhood would arise, within less than a century, 
prosperous and enterprising cities. Yet the 
progress of American ardor and enterprise has 
been such that today, standing on the ground 
where the Bannocks, Shoshones, Blackfeet and 
Arapahoe Indians formerly assembled to trade 
their peltry for such articles as the white men 
had to offer, the tourist may be aroused from his 
reverie by the sound of steam whistles, or the 
rumbling of long trains of freight cars, laden 
with the barter of modern industry, while as 
far as the human vision can extend, stretches 
beautiful meadows and orchards, and nestling 
among them are seen the homes of the owners. 
Located between the sites of the former forts 
stands the beautiful capital city of the pros- 
perous and progressive state of Idaho. 



ORIGIN OF THE NAME IDAHO 35 

Truly the sword has been turned into the 
pruning hook, the battle-ground into an orchard 
or a meadow; the war-whoop of the savage into 
an anthem of praise. God has been good to this 
land. 



CHAPTER III. 

EARLY SETTLEMENTS. 

AMONG the important early settlements in 
Idaho was that made in 1836 by Rev. Henry 
Spaulding and family on Lapwai, a tributary of 
the Clearwater river. This first location was at 
the foot of Thunder Hill near a big spring about 
two miles above the mouth of the creek, and 
approximately twelve miles from the confluence 
of the Snake and Clearwater rivers where the 
city of Lewiston now stands. 

They arrived at the foregoing place on No- 
vember 29, 1836. Henry Spaulding, assisted by 
Mr. Gray, who had accompanied him from the 
Whitman location near Walla Walla, together 
with such aid as the Indians cheerfully gave, 
erected the first mission. After a residence at 
that place of about one year, Spaulding con- 
cluded that a better location for his mission 
would be at the n,outh of Lapwai Creek, near 
the bank of the Clearwater river, (called by the 
Indians Koos-koos-ki) . 

He, therefore, erected a larger and more 
commodious log house at that point, and moved 
from his original location. 

Among the things brought across the Rocky 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS 37 

Mountain Divide by Rev. Spaulding and Dr. 
Whitman, who accompanied Spaulding, were a 
few seeds; a few kernels each of corn, wheat 
and oats ; also a few apple and locust seeds. 
Preparing a small garden patch of fertile ground, 
he began patiently to plant and cultivate each 
species in order that he might in time be able 
to supply the Indians with seeds, hoping to in- 
duce them to become tillers of the soil. His 
efforts in this direction were crowned with a 
moderate degree of success; the need of a mill 
to grind the wheat and corn was felt. 

The Indians did not realize this need as Mr. 
Spaulding did, they having their primitive 
method of grinding seeds and bulbs — the mortar 
and pestle, both made of stone. But the civiliz- 
ation he hoped to instill among them meant 
higher and better methods than could be pro- 
duced by such crude utensils. 

To bring the machinery for a flouring mill 
across the continent at that time was beyond 
his possibilities, but he was not to be vanquished 
in his ambition to supply better methods for 
these people. Proceeding up the Clearwater 
river with a few Indians to where he found a 
granite cliff, he quarried out pieces suitable for 
mill-stones, and constructed a raft of logs, loaded 
them onto it and brought them down to his 
mill site near his residence. He then cut them 
as best he could into the desired form and pro- 
ceeded to dig a ditch to carry water out of Lap- 
wai Creek to a wheel which he constructed. He 



38 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

was thus able to set his mill-stone into motion 
and grind the corn and wheat produced by the 
primitive agricultural methods at their disposal. 

Thus first began the civilization of the Nez 
Perce Indians; and the work accomplished in 
this direction by Rev. Spaulding, and his devoted 
Christian wife, was largely responsible for the 
friendly spirit with which those Indians received 
the whites when the discovery of placer gold 
caused such an increase in the population of 
their country. 

A few years since I visited the site of the 
old mission (1898). As I wandered over the 
ground which had been the field of their noble 
endeavor and thought of the hopes and disap- 
pointments of the place, I was overwhelmed 
with the imagination of what that self-immo- 
lated man and his wife had borne on that same 
spot — so many years ago. 

The log building that was the work of their 
hands, still occupied its original site, although 
the roof had partly fallen in. The apple trees, 
old and gnarled, had been grown from the seed 
he had brought across the plains, some of them 
still living and pointing back to the days that 
were. A beautiful grove of locust trees, their 
origin, the seed from which they grew, came 
from the eastern home of the Spauldings, now 
towers above and shelters the graves of Rev. 
Spaulding and his devoted helpmate. 

While on my visit there in 1898, I found im- 
bedded in a gravel bar, one of the old granite 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS 39 

mill-stones made by Spaulding and used in his 
primitive mill. Thinking it would be prized as 
a historical relic at some future time, I caused 
it to be conveyed to the University campus at 
Moscow, where it remained for several years. 
Later it was sent to the State Historical So- 
ciety's headquarters at Boise to be displayed 
among the historical relics there preserved. The 
grooves on the face of the old mill-stone are as 
well defined today, after being exposed to the 
elements for seventy years, as if they were but 
recently made. 

The results of the teaching thus begun is 
traceable in the improved farms and modern 
houses now occupied by the sons and daughters 
of the Nez Perces who were once the pupils of 
Mr. and Mrs. Spaulding before the first immi- 
grant wagon came to Oregon. 

No history of Idaho would be complete un- 
less it contains a more exhaustive account of the 
struggles and accomplishments of the Spaulding 
Mission than I am capable of writing. But Miss 
Kate C. McBeth, in a book entitled "The Nez 
Perce Since Lewis and Clark," has ably per- 
formed this work. Miss McBeth came to Lapwai 
in the fall of 1873, after Mr. Spaulding's death, 
and took up the work that he laid down. Up to 
the present writing her life has been devoted to 
this work, she now being an old woman. She 
still resides (1912) within a few miles of the 
former site of the Spaulding Mission, and her 



40 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

work and advice among the Nez Perces is to this 
day second only to the Book she teaches. 

Her publications may be purchased in the 
book stores in Lewiston and Moscow, Idaho, or 
by addressing her at Spaulding, Idaho. It is a 
book that should be read by all, or at least by 
those who are interested in missionary effort. 

The next established settlement within what 
are now the boundaries of Idaho was made by 
the Jesuit Fathers in 1853, on Cceur d'Alene 
river, at, or near, what is now the head of navi- 
gation on that stream. The building they 
erected is still standing, and is within the terri- 
tory afterwards included in the Coeur d'Alene 
Indian reservation, which has been recently 
opened to settlement in accordance with a treaty 
between the Indians and the United States gov- 
ernment. The work which these devoted and 
self-sacrificing men began in 1853 has been con- 
tinued without assistance until the present time. 
A second mission was later established at Des- 
met. It is situated on the Cceur d'Alene reserva- 
tion and on land belonging to these Indians. 

I first visited Desmet Mission in 1900; my 
arrival there was during the wheat harvest, and 
when I approached the reservation from Tekoa, 
where the O.-W. R. & N. R. R. station is, my 
first view of the reservation proper was from a 
ridge to the westward which was crossed by the 
mission wagon road. My first impression was 
that I had not yet reached the border of the 
reservation, for I saw as far as my eyes could 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS 41 

reach, fields of golden grain, waving in the 
autumn sunshine, with harvest crews and steam 
threshers at work in every direction. 

I saw big red barns and spacious farm 
houses painted white. As I drew near to where 
the harvest crews were working, I saw that they 
were made up of white men and Indians in about 
equal numbers, and was told by my driver that 
the Indians owned the land and the machinery, 
and employed the whites as hired men to per- 
form a part of the labor. 

As we neared the Mission I found a little 
village consisting of several large frame build- 
ings, where boarding schools are maintained for 
boys and girls, they being separately conducted, 
the Catholic Sisters having charge of the girls' 
department, while the boys are taught by the 
Fathers. 

The mission has the appearance of a vil- 
lage, owing to the number of small houses and 
stables owned by the Indians who live on their 
farms, but come to the mission Saturday even- 
ings, remaining over night in their cottages 
in order that they might attend church on the 
Sabbath, returning to their farms the following 
day. No man or woman having the true con- 
ception of the standards taught by Christ can 
visit the Desmet Mission and observe the self- 
abnegation, the devotion to duty of these faith- 
ful teachers — both men and women — without 
being benefited by the example they have wit- 
nessed. 



42 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

There is no record of the Coeur d'Alene 
Indians, with whom this mission has labored, 
ever having violated any treaty made by them 
with the government, or of them being at any 
time unfriendly with the whites. Their con- 
dition today, morally and financially, as well as 
their record for good behavior in the past, is 
an example of what might have been accom- 
plished with other tribes if similar methods 
had been followed. 

The work performed at the Spaulding and 
Desmet Missions has been, at no time, heralded 
by the blare of trumpets; nor has it been adver- 
tised in newspapers and magazines, save as 
some brief, occasional notice may have appeared; 
hence, their establishment did but little to at- 
tract immigration to this part of the northwest. 
The outbreak of the Cayuse war, involving as 
it did many of the Columbia river tribes, caused 
the abandonment of the Spaulding Mission ap- 
proximately ten years after its establishment, 
but the moral and industrial lessons taught the 
Nex Perces during those ten years have borne 
abundant fruit. The Coeur d'Alene mission con- 
tinues the work for which it was established, 
and to the efforts of that church may justly be 
credited the rapid advancement and prosperity 
of that tribe. 

Prominent among the early pioneers who 
penetrated the vast, and then but little known 
region drained by the Snake River and its tribu- 
taries, and among those whose advent should 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS 43 

be recorded as following the founding of the 
Spaulding and Desmet Missions, were the mis- 
sionaries sent by the Church of Latter Day 
Saints, commonly called "Mormons." They 
came to what is now Idaho for the purpose of 
locating and establishing a settlement among 
the Bannock and the Shoshone Indians near 
Salmon river, that country then being in the 
Territory of Oregon. 

The missionaries, of which there were 18, 
were "called," as all missionaries have been, in 
this church — the majority of them having had 
five or six weeks in which to prepare for the 
trip. The personnel of the party was as fol- 
lows: 

A. R. Wright, Thos. S. Smith, Ezra J. 
Bernard, Isaac Shepherd, of Farmington; Bald- 
win H. Watts, of South Weber; Geo. R. Grant, 
of Kaysville; Charles Dalton, Israel J. Clark, 
of Centerville, Davis County; William H. Bach- 
elor, Ira Ames, Wm. Brundridge of Salt Lake 
City; Thomas Butterfield of West Jordan, Salt 
Lake County; William Burgess of Provo, Utah 
County; Abraham Zundel, Everett Lish, of Wil- 
lard, Box Elder County; Francillo Durfee, David 
Moore, Benjamin F. Cummins, Geo. W. Hill, Gil- 
bert Belnap, Joseph Parry, Nathaniel Leavitt, 
P. G. Taylor, Chas. McGeary, John Galligher, 
John W. Browning, Wm. Burch, David Stephens, 
of Ogden, Weber County, Utah. 

The instructions received by the mission- 
aries were to settle among the Bannock, the 



44 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

Flathead or the Shoshone Indians, or at any 
place where the tribes would receive them, and 
there teach them the principles of civilization. 
They were instructed to take with them suffi- 
cient provisions to last one year, so they would 
not be a burden to the tribes whom they were 
to attempt to civilize and to convert, but rather, 
to be able to feed them, should this necessity 
arise. 

A well known theory of Brigham Young's 
was "It is cheaper to feed an Indian than it is 
to fight him." 

On May 18th, 1855, these twenty-seven men, 
having bade good-bye to their families, started 
into the desert wilderness to make a home among 
unknown and untutored savages. 

Their outfit consisted of thirteen wagons 
with two yokes of cattle to each wagon, and a 
few cows. The party was divided into messes, 
five or six members to a mess, each member 
having his own particular duties to perform. 

Thus organized, they traveled northward 
through what is now Brigham City, but which 
was at that time entirely unsettled; thence their 
course was along the base of the mountains, 
crossing Bear river a short distance of where 
Colliston is now located. 

When it is remembered that there were no 
roads or bridges in those days, it will be real- 
ized that the progress of the party was attended 
with difficulties. Their method of camping was 
that generally adopted by travelers in an Indian 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS 45 

country, with one innovation — each morning and 
evening they gathered in prayer — each taking his 
turn, according to roll call. 

Crossing the Bannock range of mountains, 
they continued their journey, passing close to a 
point where Pocatello now stands. Following a 
northerly direction they crossed Ross Fork and 
Blackfoot rivers, and arrived safely at Eagle 
Rock on Snake river. (Eagle Rock is now called 
"Idaho Falls.") 

Continuing up Snake River a distance of 
several miles, they crossed this stream and 
headed for the mountains to the west. The trip 
across the desert that lies between Snake river 
and Lost river, proved to be the most difficult 
part of the journey yet encountered, and before 
reaching Little Lost River some of the stock was 
overcome by the heat and the lack of water. 
However, they were finally brought through, 
water having been sent back to them. 

On June 15th, 1855, the thirtieth day of 
their journey, the missionary party arrived at a 
place on Lemhi river, about twenty miles above 
its confluence with Salmon ; here they determined 
to establish their mission. 

At the location chosen, the valley is nearly 
a mile in width, and has an altitude of about 
five thousand feet. This location enjoyed two 
distinctions, (1) water for irrigation was plen- 
tiful, and easily diverted for this use; (2) the 
hills on the east were covered with accessible 
timber. 



46 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

On their arrival, they found a large number 
of Indians encamped near the spot they thought 
best suited for the site of their headquarters. 
These Indians belonged to the Shoshone and 
Bannock tribes, together with a delegation of 
visitors belonging to the Nez Perces. They were 
catching and drying salmon, which, at that 
season, ran up the tributaries of the Salmon 
river in large numbers. 

Missionary Geo. W. Hill, having a knowledge 
of their tongue, acted as interpreter, and 
through him it was explained to the Indians that 
the white men had come for the purpose of 
teaching them their methods. The missionaries 
were received very kindly and were permitted to 
occupy the land, and were allowed to cut such 
timber as they needed for fuel and for buildings. 

The season was already late for farm opera- 
tions, hence, to have delayed sowing until build- 
ings could have been erected, would have been 
fatal. Therefore all hands were at once em- 
ployed in cultivating and preparing a tract of 
land which, it was hoped, would produce enough 
general farm products for the next winter's sup- 
plies. Peas, potatoes and carrots were planted, 
and a small quantity of grain was sown. While 
this was being accomplished a part of their 
number dug a ditch to bring water into the land. 
A little creek emptying into the Lemhi was 
tapped for the purpose. 

The acreage thus planted and brought under 
irrigation that year was not great, but owing 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS 47 

to their greater numbers and to their better 
equipment, the Lemhi mission was enabled to 
bring under cultivation a tract of ground many 
times larger than that cultivated by the Rev- 
erend Mr. Spaulding at his mission established 
in 1836 among the Nez Perces. 

The crops having been planted, the next 
labor to confront them was the building of a 
corral for their cattle and horses, and the con- 
struction of buildings for their quarters during 
the winter. 

A spot sixteen rods square was laid out 
and on four sides a trench three feet deep was* 
dug and logs about twelve feet in length were 
placed close together on end therein, making a 
palisade nine feet high. Gates were placed in 
these walls, one on the east side and another on 
the west. Within this enclosure houses were 
then built, logs being utilized for the purpose. 
There being no saw-mills, the lumber for doors 
and frames were whip-sawed, or sawed by hand. 

It was proved later that these precautions 
were, well taken, for the twenty-seven men were 
but a handful when compared to the hordes of 
savages who surrounded them. Every night a 
guard was kept over the fort and the cattle were 
under the watchful eyes of armed herders dur- 
ing the daytime. These precautions extended to 
those engaged in bringing timber for the stock- 
ade and the buildings, each being heavily armed 
with a rifle and revolver. 

In addition to the embarrassment caused by 



48 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

the uncertain attitude of the Indians, legions of 
grasshoppers descended upon the growing crops, 
completely destroying them. 

The labor performed that first summer by 
those devoted missionaries was of a nature such 
as none but the physically and mentally strong- 
could have endured — plowing, seeding, digging 
ditches, cutting and hauling logs for their stock- 
ade and buildings. And each in turn was re- 
quired to face the additional work of standing- 
guard at night. While all the time was gnaw- 
ing at their hearts the knowledge that their 
wives and children at home, were none too well 
provided with the necessities of life. 

It must be admitted by all who can compre- 
hend such a situation that the mental as well as 
the physical strain on those men must have 
been so great that nothing but the most ardent 
devotion to duty could have enabled them to 
endure. The few still living, and to whom 
access has been had for this narrative, state that 
the years passed at the Lemhi mission were 
the most arduous they have ever experienced. 

Prior to the loss of their crops by grass- 
hoppers, it was ascertained that their supplies 
would run short, and especially would there be 
a shortage of seeds for the planting of the crops 
the coming year. Consequently, after the stock- 
ade and the houses had been completed, it was 
determined to send teams and wagons to Utah 
for the purpose of obtaining the necessities for 
carrying the party through the following spring. 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS 4 9 

The trip was taken by about half the breth- 
ren, among them being Elders Moore, Belnap, 
Durfee, McGeary, Grant, Clark and Taylor. 
They returned November 19th of that year, 
bringing with them their families. Francis Dur- 
fee brought his wife and three or four children; 
David Moore, his wife and daughter Louise; 
Chas. McGeary brought his wife, and I. J. 
Clark his wife and three children. 

These were the first white families to set- 
tle in Idaho after the Spaulding family. 

Owing to an early winter that year, and to 
the assembling of a large number of Indians, 
who had been told that the white settlers at 
Lemhi were their friends, which, if true, means 
that the whites would, naturally, share with 
them their food. In order to maintain their 
friendship, the settlers complied with their 
wishes in this respect, and, as a consequence, 
soon discovered that they would be short of 
food themselves. 

By the first of December it was seen that 
their flour would be exhausted before March 
1st. A council was held, and it was the con- 
sensus of opinion that someone must go to Utah 
for more supplies. Accordingly, a party of 
eight volunteers was sent. They left Lemhi on 
December 4th, and arrived at Odgen December 
26th, nearly all of them badly frost-bitten, but 
otherwise well, though hungry. Their cattle had 
suffered severely and were reduced to the sem- 
blance of living skeletons. 

4 E. H. I. 



50 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

Returning, the party left Ogden March 28th, 
1856, in charge of Elder Parry. They brought 
with them additional supplies, and were accom- 
panied by twenty-two new missionaries. Their 
destination was reached without serious mishap 
on May 15th, 1856. The mission was found to 
be in good condition on their arrival. 

Farming operations were at once begun, 
and a large acreage was prepared and seeded. 
Unfortunately, the grasshoppers were as bad as 
they had been the previous season, and the crop 
was again totally destroyed, making it again 
necessary to bring supplies from Utah. 

Fortunately, the Indians had not been open- 
ly hostile during this and the preceding year, 
although it was necessary to use every precau- 
tion to check any outbreak that might occur. 

During these years, several Indians had 
professed Christianity and had been baptised, 
but in view of events which occurred subse- 
quently, their conversion could not have been 
permanent. 

During May, 1857, President Brigham 
Young and a large number of the authorities of 
his church visited the Lemhi settlement, and in 
a meeting he told the brethren that they had 
come too far from home; for, in case of trouble, 
they could not be reached by rescuing parties, 
when needed, until considerable time had 
elapsed. They should have stopped and settled 
at a locality near Blackfoot, so as to be nearer 
their more numerous brethren. He was other- 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS 51 

wise very much pleased with their accomplish- 
ments and with the spirit they had shown in 
the face of such heavy odds, and now that they 
had settled here and things looked so propitious, 
he would see that more aid was given them by 
increasing the strength of the mission. This 
promise was not forgotten. 

The third season, the summer of 1857, the 
grasshoppers did not appear in such great num- 
bers, and the mission demonstrated the possibil- 
ities of growing and ripening grain and vege- 
tables at that altitude. They raised a fair crop 
of vegetables and two thousand five hundred 
bushels of wheat. 

Thus, after struggling three seasons against 
adverse circumstances and poverty, their efforts 
were successful and their larders were filled to 
overflowing — the result of their perseverance 
and industry. 

In the meantime, one of the necessary con- 
veniences supplied to the settlement was a grist 
mill, by means of which they ground their own 
grain into flour. 

In the fall of 1857 a large addition was 
made to the membership of the Lemhi colony on 
October 27th. Arrangements were at once made 
for the building of a new fort, or stockade, four 
or five miles below Fort Lemhi, thereby increas- 
ing the acreage and the strength of the colony, 
and also giving room for new arrivals. 

A number of log houses were built along 



52 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

the lines of those erected at the upper fort, 
although these were more widely scattered. 

For some weeks nothing of note occurred, 
but the air seemed pregnant with coming troub- 
les. At first it was believed that the Indians 
would attempt nothing more serious than to 
drive off some of the stock belonging to the set- 
tlers. However, this illusion was banished on 
February 25th, 1858, when it was shown that 
the plans of the Indians were of a murderous 
nature, for on that date two men who were 
herding stock were shot. 

On the 28th of February President Smith 
called the brethren together and asked their 
advice as to what was the wisest plan to adopt 
under the circumstances. It was found that 
many were discouraged and were desirous of 
abandoning the mission and going home. Others 
felt it was their duty to remain until released by 
President Young. It was finally decided to re- 
main, but to send a dispatch to President Young 
for the purpose of apprising him of the situa- 
tion. This was done. E. Bernard and B. H. 
Watts, who undertook and performed that dan- 
gerous mission, accomplished a feat unsurpassed 
in the annals of frontier history. They traveled 
over three hundred miles of country covered 
with snow and beset by relentless foes, and ar- 
rived safely with their message at Salt Lake 
City, having been without food for forty-eight 
hours. 

Immediately on receipt of the news, Presi- 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS 53 

dent Young ordered Col. Thomas Cunningham, 
with about one hundred mounted men ana 
twenty wagons, together with provisions, to go 
in and escort the missionaries to their homes. A 
company under Captain Haight started also 
from Farmington. These were also under Cun- 
ningham's command. He sent an express of ten 
men ahead to notify the mission of the approach 
of the relief party. On the 21st of March (Sun- 
day) this express rode into the fort, bringing 
the joyful news of help; in addition they also 
brought letters from home. 

Two days later the company of mounted 
men arrived. Then there was joy and thanks- 
giving. Captain Haight's company of fifty men 
arrived at the fort March 25th, and on March 
28th Fort Lemhi was formally abandoned and 
left for the Indians. The missionaries and their 
families, escorted by the mounted men who 
came from Utah for that purpose, started to 
their homes, arriving at Ogden April 11th, 1858. 

Thus ended in failure, even disaster, the 
first attempt to found a permanent agricultural 
settlement in what is now south Idaho. But 
since disaster and hardships did not discourage 
our Pilgrim Fathers, who were driven by per- 
secution and intolerance to the bleak and inhos- 
pitable shores of New England, so it was with 
the Mormon people who erected their altars in 
Utah. Saddened by their experience in Lemhi, 
other missionaries were called, and a settlement 
was established in Cache Valley in November, 



54 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

1859. Franklin was settled in 1860; Malad in 
1864. Other settlements have followed in rapid 
succession until the desert places have been 
transformed into the most beautiful and fertile 
agricultural districts within the intermountain 
region. 

To the organization known as the "Church 
of Latter Day Saints" must be credited this 
wonderful development. 



CHAPTER IV 
GOLD DISCOVERIES. 



< 



T) RIOR to the time when placer gold was found 
* in paying quantities, few white men had 
penetrated the mountainous region now called 
"North Idaho" and these were engaged princi- 
pally in trapping for furs. 

The first record we have of the discovery 
of gold in this district was that made by a French 
Canadian on the Pend d'Oreille river in 1852, 
which did not prove of sufficient importance to 
attract much attention. 

Two years later gold was discovered by 
General Lauder, while he was exploring a route 
for a military road from the Columbia river to 
Fort Bridger. 

From 1852 onward placer mining was con- 
ducted in a desultory manner on various streams 
in what is now Shoshone county, Idaho. But it was 
not until the discovery of gold In 1860 by a 
party under the leadership of Captain E. D. 
Pierce, that a great mining boom began to as- 
sume proportions large enough to attract atten- 
tion. This discovery was made on what was af- 
terward known as "Canal Gulch," a tributary of 
Orofino Creek, which in turn empties into the 



56 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

Clearwater river, a stream which, with its tribu- 
taries, drains the western slope of the Bitter 
Root mountains. 

During the winter of 1860-61 the accounts 
of the strikes thus made were published in the 
Walla Walla and the Portland papers, causing 
a stampede the following spring to the new El- 
dorado. The summer of '61 found the banks 
of Orofino Creek and its branches lined with 
tents, which were occupied by thousands of 
miners and prospectors. 

Houses had sprung up like magic in the 
town named "Orofino," and before the end of 
the summer of 1861, the newly-fledged metropo- 
lis was supplied with stores, hotels and saloons, 
the last outnumbering the others. 

The days were enlivened by the arrival of 
pack-trains, which were laden with all sorts of 
merchandise required in a larsre mining cami) 
where all is new and nothing old. 

The braying of the pack-mules, and the 
clatter of the carpenters' and the blacksmiths' 
hammers gave zest to the hundreds of pedes- 
trians continually moving about the streets from 
one place to another as fancy or some excitement 
attracted them. Violin music was heard in 
most of the saloons, and gambling was an ad- 
junct of them all. New arrivals were almost 
continuous and departures of prospecting parties 
were of daily occurrence. These parties 
usually consisted of from two to six, and up to 
ten men, all heavily armed and provided with 



GOLD DISCOVERIES 57 

pack animals to carry their supplies. In this 
manner the surrounding mountains were quite 
thoroughly explored during the summer of 1861, 
resulting in the discovery of many rich claims, 
including the placers adjacent to Pierce City, 
Elk City, Florence and Warrens. 

All of the foregoing towns were located 
and built after gold was discovered at or near 
their sites. 

As each new discovery became known, a 
stampede from the first locations resulted, hun- 
dreds of men leaving fairly good claims in many 
instances, to join the mad rush to the new El- 
dorado. Disappointment in many cases followed, 
for, while all the camps contained rich placer 
deposits, yet, as might have been expected, they 
were limited in area; it therefore happened that 
of the thousands of gold seekers who followed 
each excitement many were unable to secure 
claims. In fact, it mattered not how extensive 
the field might be, among such a number were 
always to be found a number of so-called men, 
who were merely grown-up boys, without suffi- 
cient experience or energy to locate a mining 
claim. 

The mining camps of Orofino, Pierce City, 
Elk City, Florence and Warrens were all located 
on lands claimed by the Nez Perce Indians, yet, al- 
though their game was slaughtered and their 
streams polluted by prospectors and miners, and 
notwithstanding that they were a powerful 
tribe of recognized prowess in war, they quietly 



58 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

submitted to the confiscation of their property, 
without resort to the only court to which they 
could have appealed — that of war. That they 
did not go on the war-path in what would have 
proved a vain effort to right their wrongs was 
due, no doubt, to the spirit of friendliness they 
had entertained for the whites since the Lewis 
and Clark party had visited them, this spirit 
of friendship and good will having been fostered 
and cultivated by Rev. Spaulding and his wife 
during their missionary work among them. I 
believe that those who are promoters of mis- 
sionary efforts among the Indians may claim, 
with justice, that the forbearance of the Nez 
Perces was largely, if not entirely, due to the 
teachings they received at the Christian mission 
at Lapwai. 

While it is no doubt true that opposition on 
the part of the Indians to the opening and work- 
ing of the mines on their land would have been 
eventually overcome, yet, such accomplishment 
would have been attained only by the sacrifice of 
many valuable lives, and the delay incident to a 
long and bloody war. The avoidance of such a 
conflict at that time was especially fortunate, as 
the War of the Rebellion was in progress while 
the mining camps were enjoying their greatest 
degree of prosperity, and the United States gov- 
ernment, struggling for existence, could ill afford 
to send troops to quell a conflict such as would 
have followed a general outbreak of the Nez 
Perce Indians. 



GOLD DISCOVERIES 59 

That the friendly reception extended to the 
miners and prospectors in Shoshone and Nez 
Perce counties was due to the training many of 
them had received at the Coeur d'Alene and 
Spaulding missions, seems to be borne out by the 
fact that no other Indian tribe, at that time, 
gave up their country without a struggle that 
saddened many homes where mother, wife or 
child watched in vain for the return of one 
whose chair was to be forever vacant at the 
family fireside.) 

The influx of the bravo and the criminal 
classes into Walla Walla, Orofino, and Florence, 
during the years of 1861 and 1862, before the 
Territory of Idaho was created, and before the 
exodus into Boise basin and other camps sub- 
sequently discovered, by those who were not 
hanged or killed, was the fundamental cause of 
Idaho's gaining such an unenviable reputation 
for lawlessness during the earlier years of its 
organization. 

These men were, in many instances, fugi- 
tives from justice in other states, and Walla 
Walla being the largest town in what was then 
eastern Washington, was the first place in which 
they took refuge, and it was usually but a short 
time after their arrival when they made their 
presence felt in a way that was generally fol- 
lowed by a funeral. 

The following is a roster of a few of the 
prominent characters in the drama of murder, 
robbery and shame enacted during the early 



60 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

mining days of the northwest, before and after 
the organization of Idaho Territory, together 
with a brief synopsis of the career of some of 
them before coming to Idaho, and the sanguinary 
end which terminated their lawless activities : 

"Cherokee Bob," Henry Plummer, Bill Bun- 
ton, Charley Ridgley, Reeves, Charley Harper, 
Mayfield, Ferd Patterson, Hickey, Matt Bledsoe, 
David English, William Peoples, Nelson Scott, 
Bill Willoughby, Boone Helm and "Dutch Fred." 

In addition to this list of notables they had 
a large following of minor satellites who seldom 
rose above the rank of horse thieves or "bogus" 
dust operators, but who were useful to their 
superiors as spies, political boosters and jurymen. 

"Cherokee Bob" was a native of Georgia, 
his mother being a half-blood Cherokee, for which 
reason he gained the picturesque sobriquet by 
which he was known. He was a bitter partisan 
of the south, and upon his arrival at Walla 
Walla could talk or think little else than the 
great superiority of the southern soldier over 
his northern compeer. 

Those who have witnessed a theatrical per- 
formance in a mining or frontier town are not 
likely to forget the boisterous enjoyment with 
which the audience fills up the intervals between 
acts. A bar where liquor is sold is almost in- 
variably one of the conveniences attached, and 
most of the audience during the interims in the 
performance visit and patronize this inspiring 
adjunct of the entertainment, while others in- 



GOLD DISCOVERIES 61 

dulge in whistling, caterwauls, stamping feet, 
and other demonstrations expressive, usually, of 
good humor and the bubbling over of the sur- 
charged animal spirits of men, who after all are 
only grown-up boys. 

CWalla Walla, during the time of the mining 
excitement, incident to the discoveries of gold 
in Orofino and Florence, was a typical frontier 
mining-supply town; here were gathered during 
the winter of 1861-1862 a heterogeneous popula- 
tion, made up of all the elements which repre- 
sent the "good" and the "bad" in the human 
family. The men who sold dry goods and groc- 
eries, the men who made and sold what was 
appropriately called "Lightning whiskey," the 
men who robbed stages and the unsuspecting 
wayfarers, the rollicking cow-boy, the faro 
dealer and his "look-out," the minister of the 
gospel, the judge who pronounced sentence upon 
offenders, with a sprinkling of Uncle Sam's 
soldiers from the garrison near the town. All 
these, and other kinds, were mingled together on 
the streets and in the business houses and places 
of amusement. Such a crowd of cosmopolites is 
rarely seen in any country.*} 

Fort Walla Walla was situated about half a 
mile from the town limits, and the troops sta- 
tioned there were permitted to visit the embryo 
city on "leave," some of them attending the 
theaters during nearly all the performances. At 
the time of which I write, the fort was gar- 
risoned with California volunteers, the regulars 



62 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

formerly stationed there having been ordered 
east to the seat of war* 

One of the volunteer companies in the gar- 
rison was recruited in Placer county, California, 
many of them having enlisted at "Dutch Flat," 
and were personally known to the writer who, 
at the time of their enlistment, resided there. 
They were all young men of good families, and 
most of them had money of their own when 
they volunteered. Their enlistment resulted from 
their intense patriotism. They were led to be- 
lieve that in the near future they would be 
ordered to go east, there to engage in the strug- 
gle then in progress. But, owing to the need 
of seasoned troops, the regulars were sent to 
the front and the volunteers were substituted to 
do garrison duty. Hence the presence of the 
Placer county boys at Fort Walla Walla. They 
were sober, industrious young men, and though 
their uniforms were those of privates in the 
ranks, they were as far above the average civ- 
ilian roysterers who made day and night hideous 
and dangerous in the town as could be imagined. 

"Cherokee Bob" was consumed with wrath 
every time he saw these clean-limbed young 
"hirelings of Abe Lincoln," as he called them, on 
the streets, and rarely failed to use some insult- 
ing epithet within their hearing; but as they 
always came to town in little squads of three or 
four, and were armed with regulation revolvers, 
he hesitated to start a street fight. He was, 
nevertheless, determined to show his superiority 



GOLD DISCOVERIES 63 

over such ' 'hirelings' ' and merely waited for an 
opportunity to arrive when he could display his 
prowess and venom without incurring any great 
danger to himself. 

Choosing a night when a popular play was 
being performed in the theatre, and a few of 
the soldier boys were present, he having pre- 
viously arranged with a deputy sheriff who acted 
in the capacity of peace officer in the show, and 
who, like himself, was a rabid Secessionist, to 
interfere when the usual noisy demonstration 
began at the end of the first act, and to precipi- 
tate a disturbance, if possible, by using insulting 
language. 

The program was successfully carried out. 
Porter, the deputy sheriff, at the time agreed 
upon, sprang from his chair and striding in 
front of them, yelled "Dry up there, you brass- 
mounted hirelings, or I'll snatch you bald- 
headed." The insulting maner coupled with the 
insulting language, produced the desired effect. 
Smarting under the reproach, one of the young 
men inquired "Why do you single us out, when 
there are others who are more boisterous ?" 
Porter waited for no other provocation, but 
drawing and cocking his revolver with one hand, 
he seized the soldier nearest to him with the 
other and jerked him into the aisle, calling on 
the deputy city marshal, "Cherokee Bob," and 
several of his associates who were conveniently 
near, to assist in arresting him. The plan, 



64 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

as prearranged, was carried out without a 
hitch. 

The soldiers, recovering from their first 
surprise, offered resistance, and a melee resulted. 
Cherokee Bob was in his element; with a revol- 
ver in one hand and a bowie knife in the other, 
he sprang at his victims. When the smoke had 
cleared and quiet was restored Bob and his 
allies had disappeared, but two of the soldiers 
lay dead on the floor and others were horribly 
mangled. 

The attack was so unexpected, so sudden 
and deadly, that the soldiers could make but 
little resistance. Porter and the deputy marshal 
were both shot through their legs — the latter was 
crippled for life. 

Before daylight the next morning Cherokee 
took his departure to Lewiston, riding a stolen 
horse. Reaching his destination, he soon be- 
came the owner of a saloon where he was an 
efficient aid to the band of organized cut-throats 
who then made Lewiston a rendezvous, finally 
drifting into Florence with a painted female 
called Cynthia, whom he had won from the 
notorious gambler and murderer, Mayfield, of 
whom I shall make mention later. The woman 
referred to was finally the cause of his death. 
There was a ball in Florence some time after 
their arrival there, and Cynthia insisted that she 
must attend. Having made known her desire to 
Bob, he said in reply, "You shall go and be re- 
spected as a decent woman ought to be." So he 



GOLD DISCOVERIES 65 

asked Willoughby, who was suspected of being a 
member of the Plummer gang, to take her, at the 
same time saying, "If things don't go right, just 
report to me." She assented to go with Wil- 
loughby, and, doubtless as Bob had anticipated, 
they were met by scowls and evidences of dis- 
gust on every hand. The women present were 
indignant and gathered into groups by them- 
selves; they soon determined to leave the room 
if Cynthia was allowed to remain. The manag- 
ing committee, after holding a conference, in- 
formed Willoughby that he and his partner 
must retire, which they accordingly did. 

One of the managers was named Williams; 
he was a saloon keeper and was familiarly 
called "Jakey" Williams; the other was Orlando 
Robbins, known to everyone as "Rube" Robbins. 
Bob was furious when he learned that Cynthia 
had been expelled from the ball room, and de- 
sired to punish someone for the indignity she had 
suffered. Choosing as his intended victims the 
members of the committee who had ordered his 
mistress to leave the ball, Jakey and Rube, Cher- 
okee Bob and Willoughby the next morning de- 
termined to wipe out the offenders. Arming 
themselves to the teeth, they set out on their 
murderous purpose. 

Men like Jakey and Rube were seldom found 
unprepared, and realizing no doubt that the 
ball room incident would lead to serious trouble, 
they were watchful; so when Bob and Willough- 
by appeared with weapons in their hands hos- 

5 E. H. l 



66 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

tilities began. In the interchange of shots which 
followed, Willoughby fell, mortally wounded, 
dying in a few moments. Bob was punctured by 
several bullets and died in his saloon, where he 
was carried, on the third day after the gun- 
fight. 

It is told that in speaking of the relative 
courage of Jakey Williams and Rube Robins, 
Bob, before he became unconscious, said "They 
are both brave men, with this difference: Jakey 
always steps aside to get clear of the smoke of 
his revolver, while Rube pushes through it and 
keeps on coming, getting nearer his adversary 
with each shot." Thus ended the lives of Chero- 
kee Bob and Willoughby. They were buried in 
the Florence cemetery, among other unmarked 
graves — the final resting place of companions in 
crime, who, like them, were murderers. Their 
victims, in many instances, received the same 
obsequies, and now repose in unknown, un- 
marked graves, among the rock-strewn moun- 
tains of the northwest. 

Next on the list of these notables comes the 
name of Henry Plummer. In the spring of 1861 
Henry Plummer and wife were registered in the 
leading hotel of Lewiston. They were strang- 
ers to everyone in town except, perhaps, a few 
gamblers who had known Plummer in Nevada 
or California, and these men, following the 
usual close-mouthed methods of their calling, 
said nothing about his antecedents. He was a 
man of gentlemanly bearing, and being accom- 



GOLD DISCOVERIES 67 

panied by a quiet, gentle appearing woman whom 
he claimed as his wife, no one suspected their 
illicit relations. 

However, it was only a couple of days be- 
fore he had established his reputation as a gam- 
bler which left no doubt as to his true character. 

The woman he claimed to be his wife was 
abandoned in a short time, penniless and alone 
among strangers; she told how Plummer with 
professions of undying love had persuaded her 
to leave her husband and three children to live 
with him. Not having the courage to return to 
her family and confess her fault, she abandoned 
herself to the downward path which always leads 
onward to untold sorrows — an early and mis- 
erable death. Thus was Plummer's entrance into 
Lewiston marked by her disgrace and degrada- 
tion. 

Being a gambler, his profession brought 
him in contact with the rough and dissolute 
characters when they arrived at Lewiston. It is 
customary in mining and frontier towns for new 
arrivals to "take in" the town, meaning that 
they shall visit all the various resorts — such as 
saloons, dance halls, etc. These tours are gen- 
erally undertaken as soon as possible after their 
arrival at a new camp. Since gambling was 
usually conducted in these places, Plummer, as 
a member of the "profesh," soon became a "hail 
fellow well met" with the patrons of the amuse- 
ments provided in these resorts. 

The criminal classes soon began to recog- 



68 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

nize in him a leader, and flocked to his standard. 
Being a keen judge of character, he was able 
to choose from the common herd or "would-be" 
desperadoes, the most reckless and daring, the 
ones who combined with these traits the greatest 
skill in the use of firearms. These he organized 
into a band of choice cut-throats, who were gov- 
erned by iron-clad rules, the enforcement of 
which was left to a committee, Plummer being- 
its chairman, or head; in fact, he was chief of 
outlaws. 



CHAPTER V. 

OUTLAWS AND THEIR METHODS. 

THE OUTLAW CHIEF remained in Lewiston 
during the summer of 1862, following his 
profession — gambling. Owing to his demeanor, 
which was quiet and gentlemanly, and to the 
fact that his clothes were, as a rule, tailor-made 
and neat, a stranger meeting him would not 
have suspected him to be the depraved character 
he was. 

By making occasional trips, usually in the 
night, to interior points, he supervised and di- 
rected the operations of the band. What pur- 
ported to be a road house was established by 
them on the traveled route between Lewiston 
and Walla Walla, at Pataha Creek; another was 
started by them between Lewiston and Orofino. 
Although these resorts which they termed "she- 
bangs," were ostensibly managed by two men, 
the traveler might observe several other hangers- 
on, who were supposed to be guests, but who 
were actually silent partners holding them- 
selves ready for action. 

These resorts were surrounded by high hills 
in all directions. These hills were cut with 
ravines, while numerous flats and little valleys 



70 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

were inserted between. Bunch grass and water 
being plentiful, these places were veritable para- 
dises for horse thieves. 

jit should be remembered that in those days 
and for many years later there were no railroads 
in any direction of the country tributary to the 
Columbia river, even wagon roads outside of the 
Willamette and Walla Walla valleys were sel- 
dom to be expected, hence the early arrivals at 
the Orofino and Florence mines generally found 
their way there in small parties, riding saddle 
horses or mules, bringing with them on pack 
animals their camp equipage, including mining 
tools and a quantity of provisions. During the 
season of high water boats ascended the Colum- 
bia and Snake rivers, bringing passengers and 
merchandise to Lewiston, but after arriving 
there those whose destination was one of the 
interior mining camps were compelled to pro- 
cure saddle and pack animals to continue their 
journey, therefore those who realized that fact 
usually brought their own equipment, and were 
thus prepared to travel in any direction rumor 
announced a discovery of new diggings. Lewis- 
ton was the point of divergence to all the interior 
mining camps in the Clearwater and Salmon 
river region during 1861 and 1862, hence all 
those destined for Orofino, Elk City, Florence or 
Warrens went first to Lewiston, where it was the 
almost universal custom for travelers to remain 
for a day or even longer, to rest themselves and 
animals, but more especially to gather informa- 



OUTLAWS AND THEIR METHODS 71 

tion concerning any new discoveries which might 
have been made. Thus as will be readily under- 
stood with the arrival and departure each day of 
so many prospectors and adventurers, the town 
of Lewiston was all that is implied in the term 
"typical frontier mining town/J 

During the stay made by travelers in Lew- 
iston for rest or other purpose during those 
early mining days, they were carefully "sized 
up," by Plummer's emissaries, especially those 
who were on the return journey from the mines, 
with the object of ascertaining if possible, 
whether they carried any considerable, amount 
of gold dust; accurate descriptions were also 
taken of their saddle and pack animals, including 
color and brands; bills of sale were then made 
out in conformity with the descriptions convey- 
ing title to the animals at some prior date to the 
keeper of one of the road houses either above 
or below, dependent upon which direction the 
travelers were going, the bill of sale was then 
dispatched by courier to the man in whose name 
it was drawn so as to reach him before the 
arrival of the men with the stock. 

All being cunningly arranged in advance, 
as soon as the victims came opposite the house, 
they were halted and the demand made "Where 
did you get those animals? Get off, or I'll blow 
you off." These requests were made emphatic 
by the display of double-barreled shot guns or 
revolvers. The astonished travelers could only 
comply. They were then shown the bills of sale 



72 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

as a cause for the demand, and if the real 
owners of the stock were sensible men they left 
their property with the robbers and resumed 
their journey on foot. But if, as was sometimes 
the case, they offered resistance, their journey 
ended in an improvised cemetery, provided for 
just such occasions. 

In the mining camps and frontier towns, 
a style of building much in vogue during their 
first establishment, was built by erecting a 
frame of poles upon which rafters of the same 
kind of material were set up, then sides, ends 
and roof were covered with sheeting or com- 
mon brown muslin. Such buildings require no 
windows and even the doors were mere frames 
of small poles covered with the same material. 

This class of structures was the kind that 
largely lined the streets of Lewiston during 
the early mining excitement, which followed the 
Orofino and the Florence discoveries. There 
were no street lamps, none were needed, for the 
sunshine lighted the interior of the buildings by 
day, without the aid of windows, while the 
lamps and candles used at night illumined the 
streets. Such buildings, obviously, presented 
slight opposition to burglars, and as a protection 
against stray bullets they were a failure. 

To provide against the last it was customary 
to pile sacks of flour or sand around the beds of 
those who slept. 

Illustrative of the foregoing, a German 
named Hildebrandt kept a saloon during the 



OUTLAWS AND THEIR METHODS 73 

winter of 1861, and part of January, 1862, in 
one of these structures. He was a jovial char- 
acter, and his place was a favorite resort for 
both Germans and Americans. His saloon was 
not a gambling house but was conducted in a 
quiet, orderly manner. He was known to be the 
possessor of considerable gold dust, which the 
Plummer gang determined to appropriate. Be- 
tween twelve and one o'clock one cold January 
night the door was burst from its hinges and a 
volley of revolver shots were fired in the direc- 
tion of the large bed near the door where Hilde- 
brandt and two friends were asleep. Hildebrandt 
was killed by the first volley; his friends re- 
turned the fire, sprang from bed and escaped 
with the treasure. 

His murderers then proceeded to search 
the place, and being disappointed in their search, 
uttering oaths and threats, marched out through 
the crowd of citizens who had assembled. They 
were known, but no one attempted to arrest 
them. The following day, however, a meeting 
of the citizens was held for the purpose of de- 
vising means to arrest the further progress of 
crime, and for punishing the murderers of Hil- 
debrandt. 

This was the first effort made in Lewiston 
looking to the protection of the people, and as the 
lawless element composed a large percent of the 
population in Lewiston, the movement was 
pregnant with serious possibilities. Henry Plum- 
mer took a conspicuous part in the proceedings 



74 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

and made an eloquent plea for conservative ac- 
tion. He explained the horrors of anarchy and 
urged the assembly not to take any action for 
which they might afterward be sorry. Since 
Plummer was known only as a gambler, and but 
few suspected that he had any connection with 
the robberies and murders which were of such 
frequent occurrence, his speech had the effect 
of dispersing the gathering and prevented an 
organization from being formed. 

Among those who kept saloons at that time 
was a man named Ford. He was a courageous 
character, and while in the saloon business to 
make money, yet he never associated with the 
rough element; nor did he encourage them to 
frequent his place, but on the contrary he was 
their avowed enemy. 

When the foregoing meeting was disorgan- 
ized without taking action to punish the murders 
of Hildebrandt, he denounced those present as 
cowards, and accused them of "weakening." 

The murdered man had a brother in Oro- 
fino, who, when he learned of the tragedy, at 
once announced his determination to visit Lew- 
iston for the purpose of wreaking vengeance 
upon the assassins. They learned of his inten- 
tion, had a message conveyed to him, stating that 
if he started to Lewiston he would not reach 
there alive. The threat, as was intended, had 
the effect of intimidating him, causing him to 
abandon his purpose. Thus the assassins es- 



OUTLAWS AND THEIR METHODS 75 

caped justice that time. But they met their 
Nemesis later. 

Nothing except the possible organization of 
a vigilance committee was feared by the Plum- 
mer gang, and for any man to advocate the or- 
ganization of such an instrument of justice, was 
to mark him for destruction. Hence, Patrick 
Ford, who was present at the meeting, and who 
insisted on action being taken, was listed for 
death. Ford had opened an additional business 
in Orofino, and it was known soon after Hilde- 
brandt's murder that he was going up to Oro- 
fino with a party of dancing girls to open a 
dance hall. This was thought to afford a 
favorable opportunity to dispose of him, so word 
was sent out to the "shebang" on the road, to 
intercept him, and to put a stop to his proposed 
vigilante activities. But Ford, suspecting their 
intentions, circled around the place and thus 
avoided the encounter, which doubtless would 
have been fatal to him. 

Having heard of his escape, Plummer, 
Charlie Ridgley and Reeves mounted horses and 
followed on the trail, their route being marked 
with several robberies. When within a few 
miles of Orofino, two footmen were espied ap- 
proaching, one being some distance in advance 
of the other. As the foremost one came up he 
was ordered to hold up his hands, a command 
that was readily complied with. He was 
searched, but nothing of value was found on his 
person. They then informed him that he would 



7« EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

better move along and get out of the country as 
soon as possible, for the rough mountains were 
a poor place for a man who was broke. 

By the time this search and colloquy were 
finished, the second pedestrian had arrived; he 
also was a Frenchman and proved more profit- 
able than the first, for notwithstanding that he 
stoutly asserted he had no money, their search 
revealed a well-filled buckskin purse containing 
approximately one thousand dollars in gold dust. 
Jubilant over their success, they dashed wildly 
into Orofino with the impetuosity of a band of 
stampeded buffaloes. Reining up in front of 
Ford's saloon they dismounted; entering the 
saloon they demanded the barkeeper to serve 
them with liquor — Ford being out. After they 
had sated their thirst they proceeded to demolish 
the furniture, including the bar fixtures. During 
the confusion Ford arrived, and with a gun in 
each hand he ordered them to leave the saloon 
and town. They backed out of the place, gained 
their horses and rode to a feed-yard, where Ford 
soon followed, demanding why they had not 
left town. This demand was answered with a 
shot, which precipitated a fight in which Ford 
was killed and Charley Ridgley was severely 
wounded. The latter was carried to a friendly 
ranch near by and given such careful treatment 
that he eventually recovered. 

Plummer now changed his headquarters to 
Florence, from whence his associates made fre- 



OUTLAWS AND THEIR METHODS 7 7 

quent incursions along the different lines of 
travel leading to and from that camp. 

New discoveries having been made in other 
sections, many began leaving the older camps. 
Among these were Plummer, Reeves and Ridg- 
ley, the latter having recovered sufficiently from 
his wounds to accompany them to Elk City, their 
new field. Here he met a coterie of his former 
California pals, but he suddenly disappeared and 
was next heard of in Deer Lodge. The former 
field of his activities was immediately occupied 
by others of his ilk equally unscrupulous, some 
of whose deeds will be recorded later. 

At this time Plummer seems to have parted 
from nearly all the members of his old Lewiston 
gang except Jack Cleveland. Becoming more 
secretive in his movements, he formed a new 
band of congenial spirits. 

He visited nearly all the camps situated 
along the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains 
in Montana, but while the new members of his 
gang made robbery a business, and practiced the 
theory that "dead men tell no tales," Plummer 
concealed his affiliations so well that for a long 
time he remained unsuspected outside the mem- 
bership of his organization of freebooters. 

The band of which he was chief at that 
time consisted entirely of new members whom 
he had enrolled since leaving Elk City save one 
man, Jack Cleveland, who had crossed the Bit- 
ter Root mountains into Montana with him. 
His greatest fear seemed to be that Cleveland, 



78 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

while in his cups, would reveal some of the mur- 
derous enterprises in which they had participated 
before leaving Lewiston and Florence, Plummer 
having thus far succeeded in keeping his former 
record a secret from his new pals. The sus- 
picions he entertained toward Cleveland finally 
led to an open rupture one day while they were 
in Bannock. This was settled in a pistol duel in 
which Cleveland was killed. Plummer then fled 
to Rattle Snake Creek, where he was captured 
by a posse from Bannock. In his trial which 
followed he was acquitted. 



CHAPTER VI. 

DISCOVERY OF BOISE BASIN. 

T N the summer of 1862, a party of prospectors 
*■* entered what was afterward known as 
"Boise Basin." This party entered the basin 
via Boise Valley near the point where now 
stands the town of Centerville. It was there one 
of their number made the first discovery of 
gold in that afterwards famous district. 

Moving from there up the creek a few miles, 
a second camp was made at, or near, where the 
town of Hogem — now called "Pioneer," was sub- 
sequently located. Here the party remained two 
days, prospecting the stream, which was named 
"Grimes Creek," after a member of the party 
bearing that name, a name it has borne ever 
since. On the third day they moved still farther 
up the stream, going into camp above a point 
they called Pilot Knob. 

While coming in from the Boise Valley they 
met a party of Indians, one of whom could 
speak English, and were informed by them that 
there were plenty of bad Indians in the moun- 
tains where they were going. After crossing 
the divide and dropping down into the basin 
they found some Indian tepees, or lodges, but 



80 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

up to the time of making their last camp the 
party had not been molested. Here, however, an 
attack was made which resulted in the death of 
Grimes, who was shot while charging upon a 
bunch of Indians who were concealed in a 
thicket of bushes from which they were firing 
on the camp. Fortunately the men rallied to 
their leader, a man named Splawn, and repulsed 
the enemy without further loss. 

It was apparent to all that they were in a 
dangerous 'and desperate predicament ; their only 
hope of safety was retreat, for their provisions 
and ammunition were both running low. Assem- 
bled around the lifeless body of their late com- 
panion, a council was held, and it was deter- 
mined that Grimes should be immediately bur- 
ied, and then they would at once start to Walla 
Walla with news of their discovery and with 
samples of gold dust they had obtained. 

Wrapped in a blanket, the body was ten- 
derly laid to rest in one of the recently dug 
prospect holes. Thus was left under the whis- 
pering pines one of the brave pioneers who had 
endured untold hardships, and finally gave up his 
life in conflict with savage foes. Those who 
have been accustomed to witnessing burial cere- 
monies in our older states and who have lis- 
tened to the solemn invocation of the pastor, and 
admired the banks of flowers heaped by loving- 
hands on the new made mounds, can have but 
faint conception of the details of such a tragic 
burial as was there conducted by those grim- 



DISCOVERY OF BOISE BASIN 81 

visaged men — not one but whom realized that a 
similar ending might be his within the hour. 
Outnumbered ten, or even twenty to one, by re- 
lentless and merciless foes, those brave men per- 
formed their last sad duty to their fallen com- 
rade and friend, and then departing, left him 
alone fn the wilderness. 

By this and similar acts of heroism were the 
first discoveries of gold made in Idaho — such 
were the men who blazed our early trails. 

The discovery of placer gold in Boise Basin 
and the retreat therefrom was made in August, 
1862. The discoverers, after many vicissitudes 
reached Walla Walla in September. There, with- 
out trouble, fifty men were persuaded to return 
with them to their discovery in Boise Basin. * 

Saddle and pack animals as well as' arms 
and general supplies had to be provided. Con- 
siderable time was thus passed in outfitting for 
the return trip. Thus, together with the time 
occupied in making the journey back from Walla 
Walla, brought the season well into October be- 
fore the vanguard of the first return party 
reached its destination in Boise Basin. The men 
were fortunate in this, however, because the 
Indians never stay in the high mountains after 
the cold weather begins, usually leaving the 
higher altitudes for the warmer climate of the 
valleys when the first snow appears. Hence all 
was peaceful and quiet when the reinforced 
party reached the scene of the recent trouble 

6 E. H. I. 



82 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

with the redmen — there were no Indians in the 
Basin. 

The arrival of this party was followed al- 
most daily by others. Soon along every gulch 
and ravine within several miles, miners' log- 
cabins with shake roofs were erected, and the 
mountain streams, heretofore as clear as crystal, 
were transformed into muddy rivulets. 

Townsites were located, and Placerville, Cen- 
terville, Hogem and Bannock were soon thriving 
towns. The name of the last was afterwards 
changed to Idaho City, and that of Hogem to 
Pioneer. The growth, or rather the creation of 
these towns, may justly be cited as one of the 
marvels of frontier enterprise. When the first 
flakes of snow began to fall in November, 1862, 
the locations where these mining towns were 
subsequently built were an undefiled pine forest 
where the foot of civilized man rarely if ever 
had trod. Yet unaided by sawmills to cut the 
needed lumber, or teams to haul the material, 
bustling towns had sprung into existence before 
the snow had disappeared from the hillsides. 
The following spring Placerville and Bannock 
especially, were places of considerable import- 
ance, each having one or more hotels, restau- 
rants and stores, while sandwiched in were many 
saloons where business was never suspended, 
for they ran both day and night shifts. The 
winter of 1862-63 was indeed an eventful one 
in Boise Basin. 

In the history of mining camps, it is doubt- 



DISCOVERY OF BOISE BASIN 83 

ful if there was ever its equal. All who came 
during the first six months experienced but 
little difficulty in locating rich claims, and gold 
dust, the only money in circulation, seemed to 
be found in inexhaustible quantities. 

(it should be borne in mind that all these 
discoveries of gold, and all these rapid-fire events 
occurred while the country now forming the 
states of Idaho and Montana was still included 
within the Territory of Washington. The coun- 
ties of Shoshone, Nez Perce, Idaho and Boise 
were by legislative enactment of Washington 
Territory, and, as provided, sent representatives 
to the territorial assembly which met at Olympia. 
The rapid development of the part of Wash- 
ington Territory now known as Idaho and Mon- 
tana, due to the incoming of the gold maddened 
hordes who scattered to the various camps dis- 
tributed over a vast area of country, made the en- 
forcement of law so far away from Olympia, the 
then capital and seat of government, almost im- 
possible. Hence it was deemed advisable to 
create a new territory out of eastern Washing- 
ton, which was to include all the new mining 
districts. Congress was petitioned to this effect, 
and the following act, having been passed, re- 
ceived the approval of Abraham Lincoln on 
March 3, 1863.3 

ORGANIC ACT OF THE TERRITORY OF IDAHO. 

An Act to Provide a Temporary Government 
for the Territory of Idaho. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of 



84 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

Representatives of the United States of America 
in Congress assembled : That all that part of the 
territory of the United States included within 
the following limits, to-wit: Beginning at a 
point in the middle channel of the Snake river 
where the northern boundary of Oregon inter- 
sects the same; then follow down said channel 
of Snake river to a point opposite the mouth of 
the Kooskooskia, or Clearwater river; thence due 
north to the forty-ninth parallel of latitude; 
thence east along said parallel to the twenty- 
seventh degree of longitude west of Washington; 
thence south along said degree of longitude to 
the northern boundary of Colorado Territory; 
thence west along said boundary to the twenty- 
third degree of longitude west of Washington; 
thence north along said degree to the forty-sec- 
ond parallel of latitude; thence west along said 
parallel to the eastern boundary of the state of 
Oregon; thence north along said boundary to 
the place of beginning. And the same is hereby 
created into a temporary government, by the 
name of the Territory of Idaho ; Provided : That 
nothing in this act contained shall be construed 
to inhibit the government of the United States 
from dividing said territory or changing its 
boundaries in such manner and at such time as 
Congress shall deem convenient and proper, or 
from attaching any portion of said territory to 
any other state or territory of the United States; 
Provided further, That nothing in this act con- 
tained shall be construed to impair the rights of 



DISCOVERY OF BOISE BASIN 85 

person or property now pertaining to the Indians 
in said territory, so long as such rights shall re- 
main unextinguished by treaty between the Unit- 
ed States and such Indians, or to include any 
territory which, by treaty with any Indian tribes, 
is not, without the consent of said tribe, to be 
included within the territorial limits or juris- 
diction of any state or territory; but all such 
territory shall be excepted out of the boundaries, 
and constitute no part of the Territory of Idaho, 
until said tribe shall signify their assent to the 
President of the United States to be included 
within said Territory, or to affect the authority 
of the government of the United States to make 
any regulations respecting such Indians, their 
lands, property, or other rights, by treaty, law, 
or otherwise, which it would have been compe- 
tent for the government to make if this act 
had never passed. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the 
executive power and authority in and over said 
Territory of Idaho shall be vested in a governor, 
who shall hold his office for four years, and un- 
til his successor shall be appointed and qualified, 
unless sooner removed by the President of the 
United States. The governor shall reside within 
said Territory, and shall be commander-in-chief 
of the militia, and superintendent of Indian af- 
fairs thereof. He may grant pardons and re- 
spites for offenses against the laws of said Terri- 
tory, and reprieve for offences against laws of the 
United States until the decision of the President 



86 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

of the United States can be made known thereon, 
he shall commission all officers who shall be ap- 
pointed to office under the laws of said terri- 
tory, and shall take care that the laws be faith- 
fully executed. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That 
there shall be a Secretary of said Territory, who 
shall reside therein, and shall hold his office for 
four years, unless sooner removed by the Presi- 
dent of the United States; he shall record and 
preserve all laws and proceedings of the legis- 
lative assembly hereinafter constituted, and all 
the acts and proceedings of the governor in his 
executive department; he shall transmit one copy 
of the laws and journals of the legislative assem- 
bly within thirty days after the end of each ses- 
sion, and one copy of the executive proceedings 
and official correspondence semi-annually, on the 
first days of January and July in each year, to 
the President of the Senate and to the Speaker 
of the House of Representatives for the use of 
Congress; and in case of the death, removal, 
resignation, or absence of the governor from the 
territory, the secretary shall be, and he is hereby 
authorized and required to execute and perform 
all the powers and duties of the governor during 
such vacancy or absence, or until another gov- 
ernor shall be duly appointed and qualified to 
fill such vacancy. 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That 
the legislative power and authority of said Terri- 
tory shall be vested in the. governor and a legis- 



DISCOVERY OF BOISE BASIN 87 

lative assembly. The legislative assembly shall 
consist of a council and house of representatives. 
The council shall consist of seven members hav- 
ing the qualifications of voters as hereinafter 
prescribed, whose term of service shall continue 
two years. The house of representatives shall, 
at its first session, consist of thirteen members 
possessing the same qualifications as prescribed 
for members of the council, and whose term of 
service shall continue one year. The number of 
representatives may be increased by the legis- 
lative assembly, from time to time, to twenty- 
six, in proportion to the increase of qualified 
voters, and the council, in like manner, to thir- 
teen. An apportionment shall be made as nearly 
eoual as practicable among the several coun- 
ties or districts for the election of the council 
and representatives, giving to each section of 
the Territory representation in the ratio of its 
qualified voters as nearly as may be. And the 
members of the council and of the house of rep- 
resentatives shall reside in, and be inhabitants of 
the district or county, or counties, for which they 
may be elected respectively. Previous to the 
first election, the governor shall cause a census 
or enumeration of the inhabitants and qualified 
voters of the several counties and districts of the 
Territory to be taken by such persons and in 
such mode as the governor shall designate and 
appoint, and the persons so appointed shall re- 
ceive a reasonable compensation therefor. And 
the first election shall be held at such time and 



88 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

places, and be conducted in such manner both 
as to the persons who shall superintend such 
election and the returns thereof, as the governor 
shall appoint and direct ; and he shall, at the same 
time, declare the number of members of the 
council and house of representatives to which 
each of the counties or district shall be entitled 
under this act. The persons having the highest 
number of legal votes in each of said council 
districts for members of the council shall be de- 
clared by the governor to be duly elected to the 
council ; and the persons having the highest num- 
ber of legal votes for the house of representa- 
tives shall be declared by the governor to be 
duly elected members of said house; Provided: 
That in case two or more persons voted for shall 
have an equal number of votes, and in case a 
vacancy shall otherwise occur in either branch 
of the legislative assembly, the governor shall 
order a new election; and the persons thus elect- 
ed to the legislative assembly shall meet at such 
place and on such day as the governor shall ap- 
point; but thereafter the time, place and manner 
of holding and conducting all elections by the 
people, and the apportioning the representation 
in the several counties or districts to the council 
and house of representatives, according to the 
number of qualified voters, shall be prescribed 
by law, as well as the day of the commencement 
of the regular sessions of the legislative assem- 
bly; Provided: That no session in any one year 
shall exceed the term of forty days, except the 
first session, which may continue sixty days. 



DISCOVERY OP BOISE BASIN 89 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, that every 
free white male inhabitant above the age of 
twenty-one years, who shall have been an actual 
resident of said territory at the time of the 
passage of this act, shall be entitled to vote at 
the first election, and shall be eligible to any 
office within the said Territory; but the qualifi- 
cation of voters, and of holding office, at all 
subsequent elections, shall be such as shall be 
prescribed by the legislative assembly. 

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, that the 
legislative power of the territory shall extend to 
all rightful subjects of legislation consistent with 
the Constitution of the United States and the 
provisions of this act, but no law shall be passed 
interfering with the primary disposal of the 
soil; no tax shall be imposed upon the property 
of the United States, nor shall the lands or other 
property of non-residents be taxed higher than 
the lands or other property of residents. Every 
bill which shall have passed the council and 
house of representatives of the said territory 
shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to 
the governor of the Territory; if he approve, he 
shall sign it, but if not, he shall return it, with 
his objections, to the house in which it origin- 
ated, who shall enter their objections at large 
upon their journal and proceed to reconsider it. 
If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that 
house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be 
sent, together with the objections, to the other 
house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered ; 



90 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

and if approved by two-thirds of that house, it 
shall become a law. But in all such cases the 
votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas 
and nays, to be entered on the journal of each 
respectively. If any bill shall not be returned 
by the governor within three days (Sunday ex- 
cepted, after it shall have been presented to him, 
the same shall be a law in like manner as if he 
had signed it, unless the assembly, by its ad- 
journment, prevent its return, in which case it 
shall not be a law; Provided: That whereas 
slavery is prohibited in said territory by act 
of congress of June nineteenth, eighteen hundred 
and sixty-two, nothing herein contained shall be 
construed to authorize or permit its existence 
therein. 

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, that all 
township, district and county officers, not herein 
otherwise provided for, shall be appointed or 
elected, as the case may be, in such manner as 
shall be provided by the governor and legislative 
assembly of the Territory of Idaho. The gov- 
ernor shall nominate and, by and with the 
advice and consent of the legislative council, 
appoint all officers not herein otherwise provided 
for; and in the first instance the governor alone 
may appoint all said officers, who shall hold 
their offices until the end of the first session of 
the legislative assembly, and shall lay off the 
necessary districts for members of the council 
and house of representatives, and all other officers. 
Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, that no 



DISCOVERY OF BOISE BASIN 91 

member of the legislative assembly shall hold or 
be appointed to any office which shall have been 
created, or the salary or emoluments of which 
shall have been increased, while he was a mem- 
ber, during the term for which he was elected, 
and for one year after the expiration of such 
term; but this restriction shall not be appli- 
cable to members of the first legislative assem- 
bly; and no person holding a commission or ap- 
pointment under the United States, except post- 
masters, shall be a member of the legislative 
assembly, or shall hold any office under the gov- 
ernment of said territory. 

Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, that the 
judicial power of said territory shall be vested in 
a supreme court, district courts, probate courts, 
and in justices of the peace. The supreme court 
shall consist of a chief justice and two associate 
justices, any two of whom shall constitute a quor- 
um, and who shall hold a term at the seat of 
government of said territory annually; and they 
shall hold their offices during the period of four 
years, and until their successors shall be ap- 
pointed and qualified. The said territory shall be 
divided into three judicial districts, and a dis- 
trict court shall be held in each of said districts 
by one of the justices of the supreme court at 
such times and places as may be prescribed by 
law; and the said judges shall, after their ap- 
pointments, respectively, reside in the districts 
which shall be assigned them. The jurisdiction 
of the several courts herein provided for, both 



92 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

appellate and original, and that of probate 
courts and of justices of the peace, shall be lim- 
ited by law; Provided, That justices of the peace 
shall not have jurisdiction of any matter in con- 
troversy when the title or boundaries of land 
may be in dispute, or where the debt or sum 
claimed shall exceed one hundred dollars; and 
the said supreme and district courts, respectively 
shall possess chancery as well as common-law 
jurisdiction. Each district court, or the judge 
thereof, shall appoint its clerk, who shall also 
be the register in chancery, and shall keep his 
office at the place where the court may be held. 
Writs of error, bills of exceptions, and appeals, 
shall be allowed in cases from the final decis- 
ions of said district courts to the supreme court, 
under such regulations as may be prescribed by 
law. The supreme court, or the justices thereof, 
shall appoint its own clerk, and every clerk shall 
hold his office at the pleasure of the court for 
which he shall have been appointed. Writs of 
error and appeals from the final decisions of 
said supreme court shall be allowed, and may be 
taken to the supreme court of the United States, 
in the same manner and under the same regula- 
tions as from the circuit courts of the United 
States, where the value of the property or the 
amount in controversy, to be ascertained by the 
oath or affirmation of either party, or other 
competent witnesses, shall exceed one thousand 
dollars, except that a writ of error or appeal 



DISCOVERY OF BOISE BASIN 93 

shall be allowed to the supreme court of the 
United States from the decision of the said su- 
preme court created by this act, or of any judge 
thereof, or of the district courts created by this 
act, or of any judge thereof, upon any writs of 
habeas corpus involving the question of personal 
freedom. And each of the said district courts 
shall have and exercise the same jurisdiction, in 
all cases arising under the Constitution and laws 
of the United States, as is vested in the circuit 
and district courts of the United States; and the 
first six days of every term of said courts, or 
so much thereof as shall be necessary, shall be 
appropriated to the trial of causes arising under 
the said Constitution and laws; and writs of 
error and appeal in all such cases shall be made 
to the supreme court of said territory, the same 
as in other cases. The said clerks shall receive, 
in all such cases, the same fees which the clerks 
of the district courts of Washington Territory 
now receive for similar services. 

Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, that 
there shall be appointed an attorney for said 
territory, who shall continue in office four years, 
and until his successor shall be appointed and 
qualified, unless sooner removed by the President 
of the United States, and who shall receive the 
same fees and salary as the attorney of the 
United States for the present Territory of Wash- 
ington. There shall also be a marshal for the 
territory appointed, who shall hold his office for 
four years, and until his successor shall be ap- 



94 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

pointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by 
the President of the United States, and who 
shall execute all processes issuing from the said 
courts when exercising their jurisdiction as cir- 
cuit and district courts of the United States; he 
shall perform the duties, be subject to the same 
regulations and penalties, and be entitled to the 
same fees as the marshal of the district court of 
the United States for the present Territory of 
Washington, and shall, in addition, be paid two 
hundred dollars annually as a compensation for 
extra services. 

Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, that the 
governor, secretary, chief justice, and associate 
justices, attorney, and marshal, shall be appoint- 
ed by the President of the United States, by and 
with the advice and consent of the senate. The 
governor and secretary to be appointed as afore- 
said, shall, before they act as such, respectively, 
take an oath or affirmation before the district 
judge or some justice of the peace in the limits 
of said territory duly authorized to administer 
oaths and affirmations by the laws now in force 
therein, or before the chief justice or some asso- 
ciate justice of the supreme court of the United 
States, to support the Constitution of the United 
States, and faithfully to discharge the duties of 
their respective offices, which said oaths, when 
so taken, shall be certified by the person by 
whom the same shall have been taken; and such 
certificates shall be received and recorded by the 
said secretary among the executive proceedings; 



DISCOVERY OF BOISE BASIN 95 

and the chief justice and associate justices, and 
all civil officers in said territory, before they act 
as such, shall take a like oath or affirmation be- 
fore the said governor or secretary, or some 
judge or justice of the peace of the Territory, 
who may be duly commissioned and qualified, 
which said oath or affirmation shall be certified 
and transmitted by the person taking the same 
to the secretary, to be by him recorded as afore- 
said; and afterwards the like oath or affirmation 
shall be taken, certified and recorded in such 
manner and form as may be prescribed by law. 
The governor shall receive an annual salary of 
two thousand, five hundred dollars, the chief 
justice and associate justices shall receive an 
annual salary of two thousand five hundred dol- 
lars, the secretary shall receive an annual salary 
of two thousand dollars ; the said salaries shall be 
paid quarter-yearly, from the dates of the re- 
spective appointments, at the treasury of the 
United States ; but no payment shall be made un- 
til said officers shall have entered upon the duties 
of their respective appointments. The members 
of the legislative assembly shall be entitled to 
receive four dollars each per day, during their 
attendance at the sessions thereof, and four 
dollars each for every twenty miles' travel in 
going to and returning from said session, esti- 
mated according to the nearest usually traveled 
route, and an additional allowance of four dol- 
lars per day shall be paid to the presiding officer 
of each house for each day he shall so preside. 



96 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

And a chief clerk, one assistant clerk, one en- 
grossing and enrolling clerk, a sergeant-at-arms 
and doorkeeper may be chosen for each house; 
and the chief clerk shall receive four dollars per 
day, and the said other officers three dollars per 
day, during the session of the legislative assem- 
bly; but no other officers shall be paid by the 
United States; Provided: That there shall be 
but one session of the legislative assembly annu- 
ally, unless, on an extraordinary occasion, the 
governor shall think proper to call the legislative 
assembly together. There shall be appropriated 
annually the usual sum to be expended by the 
governor to defray the contingent expenses of 
the Territory, including the salary of the clerk 
of the executive department; and there shall 
also be appropriated annually a sufficient sum to 
be expended by the secretary of the Territory, 
and upon an estimate to be made by the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury of the United States, to 
defray the expenses of the legislative assembly, 
the printing of the laws, and other incidental 
expenses, and the governor and secretary of the 
territory shall, in the disbursement of all moneys 
intrusted to them, be governed solely by the 
instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury 
of the United States, and shall, semi-annually, 
account to the said Secretary for the manner in 
which the aforesaid moneys shall have been ex- 
pended; and no expenditure shall be made by 
said legislative assembly for objects not specially 
authorized by the acts of Congress making the 



DISCOVERY OF BOISE BASIN 97 

appropriations, nor beyond the sums thus appro- 
priated for such objects. 

Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, that the 
legislative assembly of the Territory of Idaho 
shall hold its first session at such time and place 
in said Territory as the governor thereof shall 
appoint and direct; and at said first session, or 
as soon thereafter as they shall deem expedient, 
the governor and legislative assembly shall pro- 
ceed to locate and establish the seat of govern- 
ment for said territory at such place as they 
may deem eligible; Provided: That the seat of 
government fixed by the governor and legislative 
assembly shall not be changed at any time, except 
by an act of the said assembly duly passed, and 
which shall be approved, after due notice, at the 
first general election, by a majority of the legal 
votes cast on that question. 

Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, that a 
delegate to the House of Representatives of the 
United States, to serve for the term of two years, 
who shall be a citizen of the United States, may 
be elected by the voters qualified to elect mem- 
bers of the legislative assembly, who shall be 
entitled to the same rights and privileges as are 
exercised and enjoyed by the delegates from the 
several other territories of the United States to 
the said House of Representatives; but the dele- 
gate first elected shall hold his seat only during 
the term of the congress to which he shall be 
elected. The first election shall be held at such 
time and places, and be conducted in such man- 

7 E. H. I. 



98 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

ner as the governor shall appoint and direct; and 
at all subsequent elections the times, places, and 
manner of holding the elections shall be pre- 
scribed by law. The person having the greatest 
number of legal votes shall be declared by the 
governor to be duly elected, and a certificate 
thereof shall be given accordingly. That the 
Constitution and all laws of the United States 
which are not locally inapplicable shall have the 
same force and effect within the said Territory of 
Idaho as elsewhere within the United States. 

Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, that 
when the lands in the said Territory shall be 
surveyed, under the direction of the government 
of the United States, preparatory to bringing 
the same into market, sections numbered sixteen 
and thirty-six in each township in said Territory 
shall be, and the same are hereby, reserved for 
the purpose of being applied to schools in said 
Territory, and in the states and territories here- 
after to be erected out of the same. 

Sec. 15. And be it further enacted, that, 
until otherwise provided by law, the governor of 
said Territory may define the judicial districts 
of said Territory, and assign the judges who 
may be appointed for said Territory to the sev- 
eral districts, and also appoint the times and 
places for holding courts in the several counties 
or subdivisions in each of said judicial districts, 
by proclamation to be issued by him; but the 
legislative assembly, at their first or any subse- 
quent session, may organize, alter, or modify 



DISCOVERY OF BOISE BASIN 99 

such judicial districts, and assign the judges, 
and alter the times and places of holding the 
courts, as to them shall seem proper and con- 
venient. 

Sec. 16. And be it further enacted, that all 
officers to be appointed by the President of the 
United States, by and with the advice and con- 
sent of the senate for the Territory of Idaho, by 
virtue of the provisions of any law now existing, 
or which may be enacted by congress, are re- 
quired to give security for moneys that may be 
intrusted with them for disbursement, shall give 
such security at such time and in such manner 
as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe. 

Sec. 17. And be it further enacted, that all 
treaties, laws and other engagements made by 
the Government of the United States with the 
Indian tribes inhabiting the territory embraced 
within the provisions of this act, shall be faith- 
fully and rigidly observed, anything contained 
in this act to the contrary notwithstanding; and 
that the existing agencies and superintendencies 
of said Indians be continued with the same pow- 
ers and duties which are now prescribed by law, 
except that the President of the United States 
may, at his discretion, change the location of the 
office of said agencies or superintendents. 

Approved March 3rd, 1863. 



CHAPTER VII. 

CRIMINALS ACTIVE IN MINING CAMPS. 

AS SOON as the snow disappeared in the 
spring of 1863, many of the miners and 
prospectors who had been cooped up in Bannock 
(now in Montana) all winter, started out on 
prospecting trips. Other gulches containing rich 
deposits of placer gold were soon discovered. 

The entire district was in the Territory of 
Washington until April 3rd, 1863, when the Ter- 
ritory of Idaho was created. It embraced all the 
new gold discoveries in and around Bannock and 
Helena. (There were two towns, or mining 
camps, named Bannock in Idaho during 1863). 

Since the country at that time was not 
equipped with the machinery of government, 
the miners depended upon themselves to main- 
tain local government. Each camp elected peace 
officers, and laws were enacted to secure the 
rights, peace and safety of the inhabitants. It 
having been determined to elect one sheriff for 
all the camps east of the Bitter Root mountains, 
Plummer, the outlaw, became an active candi- 
date for the nomination on the Democratic tick- 
et. With the support of the members of his 
gang, and with that of the sporting elements in 



CRIMINALS ACTIVE IN MINING CAMPS 101 

the towns, he triumphed. Thus with the aid of 
hundreds of good men who voted the Democratic 
ticket on account of "principle," the vilest and 
most cold-blooded murderer who ever polluted 
the mining camps of the northwest was made 
sheriff — a man whose trail for years had been 
marked by the graves of his victims. 

His position as sheriff enlarged his oppor- 
tunities for evil until a long-suffering and for- 
bearing public was aroused, which resulted in 
the forming of a vigilance committee, at whose 
hand he, and a dozen others of his partners in 
crime, expiated their sins on the gallows. 

Nearly all of those who were Plummer's 
associates in Lewiston, Florence and Elk City, 
including Charlie Ridgley, who was wounded 
while assisting in murdering Ford, found their 
way to Boise Basin, where we shall refer to 
them later. 

The next name on the roster of the lawless 
men who came to Lewiston in the early 60's is 
Bunton — stool-pigeon, horse and cattle thief, and 
murderer. He had killed a man at a ball near 
Walla Walla, was tried for murder, and acquit- 
ted for want of sufficient evidence. Next, he 
killed his brother-in-law, escaping the officers by 
flight. He then located a ranch on Pataha creek, 
where he lived with an Indian woman. It was 
soon ascertained that his business consisted of 
hiding and selling stolen stock. 

The officers raided his ranch, but he had 
doubtless been warned of their intentions and 



102 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

made his escape, disguised as an Indian wrapped 
in a blanket. It was at this time that he entered 
Lewiston and soon became a member of the 
Plummer gang. As long as Plummer remained 
there, Bunton proved a valuable aid in all of his 
nefarious ventures, but when his chief took 
wing, he too became alarmed and fled to Rattle 
Snake Creek, where he was soon captured and 
hanged by the Montana vigilance committee. 

Next on the roster is Charles Ridgley, who 
took a prominent part in the murder of Ford at 
Orofino. Before this, however, he shot a man 
named Gilchrist in Walla Walla, and thinking 
that he had killed him, said "That takes a load 
off my shoulders." Gilchrist was badly wounded 
but he recovered. Ridgley escaped arrest by 
flight. Going to Lewiston, he joined the Plum- 
mer gang. After recovering from the wounds 
received at the time of the Ford murder, he 
went with Plummer to Elk City and later drifted 
to Idaho City and South Boise, where he dis- 
tinguished himself as a friend of Ferd Patter- 
son, a gambler, gun-man and political henchman 
of E. D. Holbrook. He finally disappeared from 
the eyes of the writer. Charley was a good fel- 
low of his kind when the cards broke his way; 
his value as a political henchman consisted solely 
in his reputation of being a "gun-fighter," and a 
"bad man." 

The next undesirable citizen is Charley 
Reeves, who accompanied Plummer and Ridgley 
to Elk City, whence he went to Bannock. While 



CRIMINALS ACTIVE IN MINING CAMPS 103 

among the Bannocks in January, 1863, he bought 
from them a squaw, but she was so cruelly 
abused by him that she fled to her own people. 
Reeves and a friend named Moore tracked her to 
a tepee where she had taken refuge, and on her 
refusal to return with him, he resorted to vio- 
lence, whereupon an old Indian chief forcibly 
ejected him from the tepee. Reeves and Moore, 
joined by a man named Wm. Mitchell, marched 
and countermarched by the place, firing volley af- 
ter volley into it. The brave old chief was killed, 
together with a lame Indian, a papoose, and a 
Frenchman, named Cazette, who had entered the 
tepee to discover the cause of the disturbance. 
Two other curious individuals were badly 
wounded. 

After the dastardly deed had been perpe- 
trated the performers fled, but were captured the 
following day, brought back and tried by a jury, 
who brought in a verdict of "not guilty.'' While 
the prisoners were guilty, and everyone knew it, 
the jury was afraid to bring in a verdict in ac- 
cordance with the facts, they being intimidated 
by the criminal class, who were in the majority, 
and who crowded the room where the trial was 
being held, brandishing revolvers and threat- 
ening to take life for life. 

This trial proved disastrous to the commun- 
ity, for it encouraged the lawless element, far 
and near, convincing them that they held the 
upper hand and had the business and law-abid- 
ing citizen cowed. 



104 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

Emboldened by the foregoing result, and 
feeling that disguise was no longer necessary, 
the country was soon startled by a series of 
murders and robberies more brazen and shock- 
ing than any of the others that had preceded 
them. 

The difficulties heretofore encountered by 
those who would have gladly pursued drastic 
measures in order to secure a reasonable degree 
of safety for life and property, were chiefly 
found in the newness of the country, which pre- 
cluded the people, who were gathered there from 
almost every quarter of the globe, from becom- 
ing acquainted with one another. 

Neighbors did not know one another, hence, 
as was wise, they hesitated to suggest an organ- 
ization designed to oppose lawless methods, lest 
the man approached might be a member of the 
banditti. There being no church nor society 
organization with which the better classes could 
affiliate, it was every man for himself. The 
road-agents had the only perfect organization, 
and it shielded its own. But a time came when 
conditions were altered. 

An old man who had come alone to the 
camp secured a claim. After building a cabin, 
he begun to work his ground. The hardships 
he was obliged to undergo were more than his 
enfeebled frame could withstand. Overcome by 
sickness, he abandoned his efforts when it was 
too late. Confined to his cabin and bed, he was 
given such treatment and care as the rough, 



CRIMINALS ACTIVE IN MINING CAMPS 105 

kind-hearted men of the mountains are ever 
ready to bestow on the needy. It soon became 
apparent, however, that the end was near, and 
many of the young men who had left fathers at 
home when they came west, felt kindly disposed 
toward the suffering old man who had always 
been so gentle and kind to them when he was 
able to move around. He, too, realizing that the 
final summons had come, made known to his at- 
tendants that in his home village he belonged to 
the society of Free and Accepted Masons, and 
expressed a wish that if any of that Brotherhood 
could be found, he desired to be buried with 
Masonic rites. A notice was accordingly posted, 
calling for a meeting that evening at the humble 
cabin of the dying miner; all Masons who could 
conveniently attend were invited. When the 
time arrived, so large was the attendance that 
an adjournment to a larger building was neces- 
sary. 

The funeral of the deceased brother was 
conducted in due and ancient form, and as the 
members present, amid profound silence, 
marched forward, and one by one cast the sprig 
of evergreen upon the coffin in that open grave, 
each felt a degree of safety such as he had not 
known since coming to the place. 

All felt that at last they had found those 
to whom they could safely talk, and with whom 
they could safely act. Though the cemetery con- 
tiguous to Bannock had already assumed propor- 
tions surprising in such a comparatively small 



106 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

community, yet the foregoing death was said to 
be the first to come from purely natural causes. 
The subsequent organization of the citizens, 
followed by the uprooting of the outlaws and the 
restoration of order and safety, was no doubt 
primarily due to the meeting of the members of 
the Masonic Fraternity at the deathbed and 
grave of their departed brother. Had the con- 
ditions that existed up to this time been allowed 
to continue, the human mind is horrified at the 
contemplation of what might have resulted; but 
the departure of a lonely old man on that mys- 
terious journey which we must all, inevitably 
take, was the means of bringing an end to the 
era of crime. 

"God moves in a mysterious way 
His wonders to perform" 

The sudden departure of Plummer from the 
scenes of his former activities, Lewiston, Flor- 
ence and Elk City, was no doubt accelerated by 
the untimely but well-merited fate of three mem- 
bers of his gang whose names appear in the 
roster of notables heretofore given — Dave Eng- 
lish, Nelson Scott and William Peebles. 

In October, 1863, a packer in charge of a 
pack train belonging to Neal McClinchey, af- 
ter delivering a load to Florence, started on his 
return to Walla Walla, but before reaching Lew- 
iston he was held up and relieved of fourteen 
pounds of gold dust, it being the amount re- 
ceived for packing in the load he had just de- 



CRIMINALS ACTIVE IN MINING CAMPS 107 

livered. As he transferred the dust to the hands 
of one of the robbers the latter remarked "That's 
right and sensible; if every man was as reason- 
able as you, things would go along smoother." 
A few days later, Joseph and John Berry having 
delivered a load at Florence, were returning to 
Lewiston, driving their loose pack animals 
ahead. When two days along on their journey 
they too, were held up by three masked highway- 
men, who were doubtless the same ones that 
robbed McClinchey's packer on the former occas- 
ion. 

The Berry boys recognized the voices of two 
of the men who held them up — Dave English 
and William Peebles; and they ascertained from 
persons who had met the trio that the third 
member was Nelson Scott. 

The victims made haste to reach Lewiston, 
and when once there they lost no time in relat- 
ing the particulars of their loss. Plummer and 
his leading lieutenants being absent, the member? 
of his band remaining in Lewiston were too few 
to check the indignant citizens who immediately 
proceeded to organize for the capture of the road 
agents. The posse having satisfied itself that 
the wanted men had not passed through Lewis- 
ton, a search was begun up the river which 
established the fact that the fleeing men had 
crossed Snake river above town, and had trav- 
eled in the direction of Walla Walla. 

Public sentiment was now thoroughly 
aroused, and clamored for the capture and pun- 



108 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

ishment of the offenders. In the meantime, sev- 
eral determined men who believed in action 
rather than consultation, had started in pursuit 
of the lawbreakers. The efforts of these men 
proved successful, the capture being made in de- 
tail — Peebles was captured in Walla Walla; 
Scott on Dry Creek, and English at Wallula, 
where he was ready to take the steamer for The 
Dalles. The prisoners were apparently much 
surprised at the temerity of their captors. The 
community had so long held them in fear, and 
had permitted them to pursue their unlawful 
trade to such an extent without hindrance, that 
they felt very much aggrieved and plainly 
showed that they thought interference by out- 
siders an outrage. 

Recognizing the futility of attempting to es- 
cape, they quietly accompanied their captors on 
the homeward journey to Lewiston, fully expect- 
ing to be liberated by their friends when they 
arrived there. But public sentiment had crys- 
talized while the pursuit was in progress, and a 
citizens' committee had been organized. The 
better classes of Lewiston's citizens had been 
worked up to a high pitch over the repeated 
crimes occurring at such regular intervals, and 
they now being at last in the majority, it was 
determined to try the prisoners by the com- 
mittee. 

The captured men were accordingly taken in 
charge by the people and confined in an unfin- 
ished building standing on the south bank of the 



CRIMINALS ACTIVE IN MINING CAMPS 109 

Clearwater river — the building being strongly 
guarded. In order to complete the good work so 
auspiciously begun, and for the further purpose 
of ridding the town of a number of toughs hang- 
ing around the saloons, a committee was ap- 
pointed to bring in for trial all suspicious char- 
acters found. News of this movement was de- 
signedly circulated, with the result that before 
daybreak the following morning, all the birds of 
doubtful color had flown. 

As was to be expected, intense excitement 
prevailed. Business was suspended and men 
were seen in groups on the streets and in the 
alleys conversing in low, earnest tones. Every- 
one was heavily armed, all wearing revolvers, 
while many in addition carried rifles or shot- 
guns. 

The final disposition of the jailed bandits 
was postponed until another day, a strong guard 
of well armed men being kept around the build- 
ing in which they were confined. The town was 
thrown into a fever of excitement by hearing a 
fusilade of shots during the midnight hours. 
The shots coming from the direction where the 
guards were stationed, it was immediately sur- 
mised that a rescue was being attempted, and 
men, some of them only half dressed, came run- 
ning from every direction to reinforce the jail- 
ers. The streets were filled as if by magic. The 
firing ceased as suddenly as it begun, and it was 
learned that a friend of Peebles, who was then 
keeping a hotel in Lewiston, had attempted his 



110 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

rescue, firing upon the guard and getting shot 
through the arm in return. When this was un- 
derstood the people returned to their beds, leav- 
ing the guards to their dangerous vigil. 

The next morning almost the entire populace 
visited the building where the prisoners had been 
confined, but no guards halted their approach. 
Drawing closer, they discovered that the guards 
had departed, leaving the doors ajar. Timidly 
pushing them open, the most venturesome en- 
tered. Here they found hanging by their necks 
from the joists, the rigid corpses of the men who 
had been, in life, thieves, road agents, murder- 
ers, and all-around "bad actors." "The wages of 
sin is death." 

It was told of a very humane attorney whose 
sympathies were known to favor the oppressed 
highwaymen and horse thieves, that he appeared 
at the door of the building where the prisoners 
were confined, during the afternoon after their 
incarceration, and asked to see them, but was 
refused admittance and told to come back in the 
morning, which he accordingly did. In answer 
to his second request to see the accused, he was 
told to step inside, and upon doing so, he came 
suddenly and without warning upon the bodies 
of his clients suspended by ropes from the upper 
joists. It is needless to say that the learned 
barrister with the sympathetic proclivities, made 
a speedy exit. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

TERRITORIAL OFFICES ESTABLISHED. 

T N ACCORDANCE with the provisions of the 
-■■ act creating Idaho Territory, on the 10th 
day of March, 1863, or one week after its ap- 
proval, the President appointed the following- 
officers: Governor, W. H. Wallace; Secretary, 
W. B. Daniels; Chief Justice, Sidney Edgerton; 
Associate Justice, Alex. C. Smith; Associate Jus- 
tice, Samuel C. Parker. On the thirteenth of the 
same month he appointed D. S. Payne United 
States marshal. The position of United States 
attorney remained vacant until February 29, 
1864, on which date C. C. Hough was appointed 
to that office. 

The first territorial offices were established 
in Lewiston, no territorial capital having been 
named in the organic act. Some criticism of 
Governor Wallace has been indulged in for se- 
lecting Lewiston as the point from which to con- 
duct the business affairs of the new territory, 
basing the reason therefor on the fact that Idaho 
City was a larger town and in the midst of a 
more dense population. 

Political prejudice at that time was quite 
bitter, and it was but natural that any, and in 
fact, all acts of the appointees of President Lin- 



112 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

coin should be criticised. Idaho City at the time 
of the establishment of the territorial offices in 
Lewiston, was a new mining town which could 
be reached only by saddle and pack animals, 
there being no wagon road thereto, and no post- 
office had as yet been established. 

\Fort Boise was not located until early in 
July, 1863, and since it was not until after the 
location of the fort that the site where the city 
of Boise now stands, was located, the territorial 
offices could not have been established there. In 
justice to Governor Wallace, long since de- 
ceased, it is but fair to state that when he was 
commissioned governor of the new Territory of 
Idaho, he found his duties very onerous, not the 
least of his burdens being the lack of facilities 
for communication with the Department and the 
President in Washington. The fact that Lewis- 
ton had a stage line, or lines connecting with 
steamboats at Wallula for Portland, made it the 
most easily accessible; hence, on that account its 
selection by Governor Wallace as the temporary 
seat of the territorial government seems to have 
been wise. 

As was doubtless anticipated, a great deal of 
correspondence was necessary between the Ter- 
ritorial Secretary and the seat of government 
in Washington, before the new territory was in 
position to conduct its own affairs, and conse- 
quently much delay resulted. 

On September 22nd, 1863, Governor Wallace 
issued a proclamation calling for an election to 



TERRITORIAL OFFICES ESTABLISHED 113 

be held throughout the Territory on the 31st 
day of October of that year (1863), naming the 
officers to be elected, including a delegate to 
congress and members of the first Territorial 
legislature, which afterwards convened by execu- 
tive order in Lewiston, on December 7th, 1863. 

The political campaign preceding the first 
election in the Territory of Idaho was a spirited 
contest. The bitterness engendered by the War 
of the Rebellion, then in progress, had divided the 
people into two adverse factions, rather than 
political parties. The names Democrats and 
Republicans were still retained, but the issues 
were no longer "tariff" or "free trade." Slavery 
or its abolition — the one great question, over- 
shadowing and sinking into insignificance all 
others, was the one for which in the east and 
south vast armies contended. "Shall the Union 
of states be dissevered, dismantled, or shall that 
Union be preserved?" 

Those who voted the Republican ticket were 
Union men while, generally speaking, those who 
supported the Democratic nominees were Seces- 
sionists. There were a few Democrats in Idaho 
who were loyal to the Union and the Flag, but 
none such could obtain recognition in Democratic 
nominating conventions. 

The first election in Idaho resulted in a vic- 
tory for the Republicans. They elected a dele- 
gate to congress and a majority of both houses 
of the legislative assembly. Governor Wallace 
was a candidate of the Republicans for delegate 

8 E. H. I. 



114 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

to congress and was elected, thus causing a va- 
cancy in the Governor's office until his successor, 
Caleb Lyon, was appointed and qualified. In the 
interim W. B. Daniels, Secretary of the Terri- 
tory, became the acting governor, following the 
resignation of W. H. Wallace. 

As will be observed by reference to the en- 
abling act it was within the vested authority of 
the governor to name the time and place for the 
meeting of the first legislative body. No place 
being named in the organic act as the capital of 
the new territory, the duty of locating the seat of 
government was left to the legislature, it being 
provided that the governor should name the 
place or places where the body should meet until 
the capital was located. 

(The first territorial legislature was con- 
vened in Lewiston, Idaho, on December 7th, 1863, 
the council consisting of — First District, E. H. 
Waterby, Stanford Capps, Lyman Stanford ; Sec- 
ond District, Joseph Miller, Ephriam Smith; 
Third District, William Rheem, A. J. Edwards. 
President, Joseph Miller. 

The Representatives were: Joseph Tufts, 
Beaverhead District; C. P. Bodfish, M. C. Brown, 
R. P. Campbell, Milton Kelly, W. F. Keithley, 
Boise County; L. C. Miller, East Bannock Dis- 
trict; Alonzo Leland, John Wood, Idaho County; 
L. Bacon, Nez Perce County; James A. Orr, 
Shoshone County. Speaker, James Tufts. 

At the time the foregoing session was held, 
the Territory of Idaho included all the country 



TERRITORIAL OFFICES ESTABLISHED 115 

within its original boundaries, hence, as will be 
noted, Beaverhead district and East Bannock, 
now within the state of Montana, were repre- 
sented at that session. The personnel of the 
Idaho Territorial legislature that was assembled 
in Lewiston by call of the governor, was in some 
respects superior to the average legislative as- 
sembly of today. Many of the members came 
long distances, requiring days of toilsome travel 
over rugged mountain trails such as had for- 
merly been traversed only by Indians. No wagon 
roads had at that time been constructed, and 
hotels were luxuries seldom enjoyed. Mounted 
on saddle horses or mules, armed with rifle and 
revolver, and bringing with them on a pack ani- 
mal their blankets and provisions, these early 
statesmen "hit the trail' ' for the scene of their 
legislative endeavors. As there has been no 
record of any of them having been robbed by 
bandits, it is to be presumed that, like their 
successors of today, they carried but little "dust" 
and consequently were not worthy of the atten- 
tion of the toll gatherers of the time. J 

Those who endeavor to comprehend the cir- 
cumstances under which that first legislature 
met will find their minds bewildered by the 
effort. Legislative bodies usually have as a 
guide the enactments of former sessions, their 
duty being to amend laws already in force or 
enact such new ones as experience has sug- 
gested. But these men came to a little frontier 
town where many of the inhabitants were law- 



116 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

less and where the accommodations were of the 
most primitive character, and entered with en- 
ergy and intelligence upon duties which were 
new to most of them. The session laws enacted 
by that first session of the Territorial legislature 
of Idaho, which was convened in Lewiston on 
December 7th, 1863, bear official evidence of the 
industry, loyalty and honesty of its members. 
To the laws they enacted is attached the follow- 
ing certificate, bearing the Seal of the Territory 
of Idaho: 

"Secretary's Office, Lewiston. 

"I hereby certify that the laws contained in 
this printed volume are true and literal copies 
of the enrolled laws passed by the first Legisla- 
tive Assembly held during the months of Decem- 
ber, January and February, eighteen hundred 
and sixty-three and four. 
"On file in my office. 

"William B. Daniels, 

Secretary of the Territory/' 

The Organic Act, creating the Territory 
(Sec. 2) provided that "The Governor shall re- 
ceive an annual salary of two thousand five 
hundred dollars;" "the Secretary shall receive 
an annual salary of two thousand dollars ;" 
"the said salaries shall be paid quarter-yearly 
from the dates of the respective appointments 
at the Treasury of the United States. The mem- 
bers of the legislative assembly shall each be 
entitled to receive four dollars per day during 
their attendance at the sessions thereof." 



TERRITORIAL OFFICES ESTABLISHED 117 

At the time when the first session convened, 
and for several years thereafter, the lowest 
prices for which a meal could be obtained was 
one dollar, while one dollar and a quarter was 
the usual charge, and lodgings of the most primi- 
tive character rented from one dollar to one 
fifty per night. Greenbacks, with which all ter- 
ritorial officers, including members of the legis- 
lature, were paid, were, at the time of which 
I write, worth only about fifty cents on the 
dollar; hence the members of the first legislative 
assembly were to receive only the equivalent of 
one dollar and sixty cents per day. Such was 
the dilemma confronting them. With even min- 
eral water selling at twenty-five cents a drink, 
the condition was, to say the least, serious. 

Although some of them brought blankets, 
yet they found it impracticable to live on the 
equivalent of one dollar and sixty cents per day; 
hence an act was passed providing an additional 
compensation to be paid in warrants on the ter- 
ritorial treasury: The governor and justices of 
the supreme court, each the sum of two thous- 
and dollars; the secretary of the territory, one 
thousand four hundred dollars; the members of 
both houses of the legislature, six dollars per 
day each, and a proportionate increase to all the 
employes, as neither the members or employes 
could have subsisted on the compensation paid 
by the government. ( 

It must be remembered that up to the meet- 
ing of the legislature and the subsequent enact- 



118 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

ment of the revenue laws, no taxes were col- 
lected, and as a result there was no money to 
pay warrants issued as provided in the fore- 
going act; therefore, while the salaries were 
raised and the warrants paid to the officers and 
members, they could be sold or bartered only 
at a heavy discount, bringing the owner, if 
obliged to sell, as some of them were, not over 
sixty cents on the dollar, or the equivalent of 
$3.60 per diem; add to this $1.60 obtained for 
their greenbacks and their total per diem was 
only $5.20. The expense of living at that time 
was far in excess of that of today, hence the 
members of the Idaho State Legislature who 
receive $5.00 per diem are much better paid than 
those of the first session of the territorial assem- 
bly. 

I have been thus explicit for the reason that 
I believe an injustice has been done in this mat- 
ter by a former historian. 

The summer following the creation of the 
Territory of Idaho was an eventful epoch in its 
history. Boise Basin developed to a degree that at- 
tracted wide attention. The towns of Placerville, 
Centerville, Hogem and Bannock became marvels 
of business enterprise and vim. During that 
summer, 1863, the towns of Boonville and Ruby 
City were located on what is now called Jordan 
Creek, in Owyhee County, and as very rich 
ledges carrying silver and gold were soon dis- 
covered, another town was located above Ruby 
on the same stream, and named Silver City. Al- 



TERRITORIAL OFFICES ESTABLISHED 119 

though Ruby was the first county seat in that 
county, Silver proved to be the best business 
point, and eventually secured the county offices, 
and the pioneer town of Ruby gradually suc- 
cumbed to the inevitable, and today exists only 
in the memory of a few old pioneers who are 
left to mourn its decadence, and they too will 
soon be known no more. They did a great and 
good work and were manly and true men. May 
they find good "diggings" in the Great Beyond, 
is the hope and prayer of all who knew them. 

Gold was also discovered the same year in 
Boise river, near what is known as Rocky Bar. 
The discoveries of placer mines in the eastern 
portion of the territory, on the eastern slope of 
the Rocky Mountains, caused a large influx of 
miners, business men and adventurers into that 
country also, so that from the east to the west, 
over the vast regions of mountain and plain, 
constituting the original area of Idaho, before 
the first year of her territorial existence had 
closed, the march of industry was noticeable in 
widely distributed localities, and a constant 
stream of yellow gold began to replenish the 
channels of trade, materially strengthening the 
credit of the government, then in the hour of 
greatest need. 

As was to be expected, the Indians did not 
surrender their hunting grounds and fisheries 
without a struggle. The Nez Perce tribe, as 
has been told, were very forbearing, no doubt 
owing to the Christianizing efforts of Rev. 



120 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

Spaulding and wife, but no such influence had 
been brought to the tribes occupying the Boise, 
Payette and Snake river valleys. There the In- 
dians had held undisputed sway from time im- 
memorial. 

As the crickets and jack rabbits sometimes 
over-run and destroy the crops in these valleys 
today, without asking leave, so we of the Anglo- 
Saxon race in those days over-ran and destroyed 
the hunting grounds of the original owners, and 
without asking leave, took forcible possession 
thereof. Not having the time to spare from our 
other pursuits to sufficiently punish the Indians 
for presuming to bar our progress, we appealed 
to the government to support us in holding the 
country we had entered. In response to our 
petition, Major Lugenbeil, on the 28th day of 
June, 1863, arrived with a company of U. S. 
cavalry and went into camp on what is now 
called "Government Island," a mile or more 
down the river from where Boise now stands, 
and on the 6th day of July selected the present 
site of Boise Barracks. A few days later a 
number of men from Bannock, now Idaho City, 
came down and located the townsite of Boise 
City, and with the proverbial enterprise of 
those days, but little time was required to inaug- 
urate a busy mart. 

A cargo of goods owned by Cyrus Jacobs, 
which was then in transit to Bannock, was di- 
verted to the embryo city of Boise, and a build- 
ing was speedily erected for its accommoda- 



TERRITORIAL OFFICES ESTABLISHED 121 

tion. Another stock of goods was soon shipped 
in by "Crawford & Slocum," who established a 
sutler store. Several saloons, two livery stables, 
and a couple of hotels were rapidly placed in 
commission, and the quiet which had heretofore 
reigned was to be known no more. The town 
begun in the foregoing manner was the follow- 
ing year made the capital of the territory, and 
is now the capital of the state. It is a beautiful 
inland city of about twenty thousand inhabitants, 
at this writing (1912). 

The writer and his then partner, John Por- 
ter, located a ranch in April, 1963, on one of the 
tributaries of the Payette river, about four miles 
above Horseshoe Bend, and there engaged in gar- 
dening and farming for four years, finding a 
ready market for all our produce in the mining 
towns and along the gulches in Boise Basin, us- 
ing pack animals to transport our produce over 
the mountain, a distance of thirteen miles, to 
Placerville, and approximately twenty-five miles 
to Idaho City. 

Porter was an English-Canadian, and not 
having had previous experience in packing, that 
task was mine, while he ran the ranch and kept 
the sour-dough can in order. During those days 
nearly all the goods and supplies used in the 
Boise country were brought via Portland, up the 
Columbia river to Umatilla Landing, and from 
there transported by either pack train or wagons 
to the distributing points, either Boise Basin or 
elsewhere. Consequently, the cost of all com- 



122 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

modities was high. During the first three years 
nothing in the line of provisions or hardware 
sold for less than twenty-five cents per pound, 
and when it is remembered that the art of can- 
ning vegetables had not arrived at its present 
state of perfection it will be understood that 
they who were farmers in those days were en- 
gaged in a profitable business. They were the 
first monopolists in Idaho, and I am willing to 
testify that we enjoyed it. During those three 
years there were not enough men engaged in 
farming to supply the mining camps, conse- 
quently there was always a shortage. When 
Porter and I began operations we had only about 
two gallons of onion sets; these we planted, 
spading up a piece of ground in the bend of the 
creek. It was a sunny spot, and the soil being a 
rich loam, the young plants grew rapidly, and 
four weeks after planting them we pulled them 
all and tied them in bunches of one dozen each. 
There were one hundred bunches, which we 
sold in Placerville as fast as we could pass them 
out at one dollar a bunch. These were the first 
green vegetables sold in the Basin. Cucumbers 
brought two dollars per dozen, green corn the 
same price. 

I arrived on Buena Vista Bar one Sunday 
morning in August, 1863, with the first water- 
melons ever seen in that camp. An emigrant 
family had arrived but a few days before. They 
were from Missouri, and there were two beauti- 
ful girls among the other eight or ten offspring. 



TERRITORIAL OFFICES ESTABLISHED 123 

These were the first young ladies to arrive, 
other than the painted kind, and they were 
lovely girls, wearing white starched dresses. 
They were even more attractive than my melons. 
Two gallant young miners had moved into a 
tent, leaving their cabin to the family, and by 
this means had become well acquainted. The 
girls liked watermelons in Missouri, and were 
anxious to sample the Idaho product, so they 
solicited one of the young men to buy one. They 
had doubtless been accustomend to seeing melons 
sold in their home town for five or ten cents 
each, and while they must have known that the 
price would be greater in Idaho, they hardly 
expected it would be more than three or four 
times as much. The young man was delighted 
to gratify the girls, and coming within hailing 
distance, with a whoop in volume equal to a Ban- 
nock Indian, yelled "Hey, Cap, bring us a 
melon." I sized up the party and taking a rapid 
inventory of their number, selected as large a 
melon as I had, and carried it into the cabin 
where the young ladies stood ready with knives 
to determine whether it was ripe. Knowing that 
they were from Missouri it was understood that 
I was to "show them." The melon proved to be 
satisfactory and the young man asked how much 
he owed me. I told him 25 cents per pound, 
the weight was marked in the rind. Upon ex- 
amination, it was found to weigh thirty-two 
pounds, making the price eight dollars. 

In justice to the farmer, it is proper to state 



124 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

that those melons were transported on pack 
animals from the garden, a distance of twenty- 
five miles, over a rough mountain trail, and the 
loss by breakage was great, no farm product 
being less profitable at that time. And in exten- 
uation of the investment of the young man, it is 
also fair to state that he thought she was worth it. 

My first visit to Boise Basin was in May, 
1863, or approximately nine months after the 
first discovery there of gold. Yet, although 
winter was included in that time, and the annual 
fall of snow at that altitude is usually from three 
to six feet, beginning in December and remain- 
ing until April, four towns had assumed con- 
siderable importance. All these being busy hives 
of industry and enterprise. When it is remem- 
bered that up to that 'time, and many months 
afterward, all supplies were brought from Walla 
Walla and the Columbia River on pack horses 
and mules, and the only conveyance for passen- 
gers was saddle animals, it seemed as if the 
Basin must have been touched with some magi- 
cian's wand. But it was gold that worked the 
charm. 

On the first trip I entered Placerville, which 
then, as now, was built with a plaza in the cen- 
ter, and facing it on all sides were stores, sa- 
loons, and various other business enterprises; in- 
cluding a bakery and hotel. Although I was 
twenty-three years old, I was yet a boy, and as 
I rode down Granite street onto the plaza, which 
was crowded with men, the impression made on 



TERRITORIAL OFFICES ESTABLISHED 12 5 

me will always remain. It was Sunday, and the 
miners from the adjacent gulches were in town 
purchasing supplies or seeking amusement. In 
front of a saloon on the north side a dense 
crowd had assembled, and after dismounting and 
securing my horse, with the proverbial curiosity 
of the tenderfoot, I pushed my way among 
them. Gaining the attention of a man who 
proved to be the owner of a claim on Wolf 
Creek, I asked him what the excitement was. 
He replied "Oh, nothing. A man for breakfast, 
that's all. They have moved him into the shade 
of the saloon," pointing around the corner. Fol- 
lowing his direction, I ventured with others to 
take a look, and there, sure enough, lying on the 
ground, was "Hickey," a former member of the 
notorious gang of robbers and murderers who 
had so effectively for the two preceding years 
terrorized Lewiston, Florence, and other north- 
ern camps. Accompanied by several of his for- 
mer boon companions, they had made their way 
into the Basin, and although the quality of 
whiskey obtainable at that early period in the 
history of Placerville was not so enlivening as 
the later brews, it was sufficient to give him the 
courage to attempt to run a bluff on an old timer, 
known by the euphonious name of "Snapping 
Andy," who proved to have too much "snap," 
for, snatching a pickhandle from a barrel con- 
veniently near, he gave Hickey his quietus be- 
fore the latter could use his revolver. The skull 
bone was indented where the blow took effect, 



126 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

and the blood and brains were oozing out. There 
the body was permitted to lie all that day, while 
the sightless eyes seemed fixed upon the beau- 
tiful summer sky. 

This was the first of many tragedies which 
came to my notice during the early days in 
Boise Basin. Boy and tenderfoot that I was, 
for many months I could not banish from my 
mind that lifeless form. Even now, as I pen 
these lines, I can see it all again — the lofty pines, 
the eternal hills, the bearded men, the roofs, 
steep-pitched, to shed the snow. 

No mail contracts having been let or post- 
offices established, letters carrying news and 
urging friends to hasten to the new Eldorado 
were sent out by all possible conveyances. 

As a result of this advertising which was 
emphasized by reports of the enormous quan- 
tities of gold being sent to the United States 
mints, the country was soon invaded by thous- 
ands of gold crazed persons. Stage lines were 
established and a population estimated as high as 
forty thousand settled down to their various pur- 
suits. A majority of these were no doubt en- 
gaged in mining, yet nearly all the vocations fol- 
lowed in the older communities were in evidence. 

From the beginning Bannock City in- 
creased in population more rapidly than any 
other of the mining towns, owing, perhaps, to 
its fortunate location at the confluence of two 
mountain streams, the channels of which seemed 
to be literally lined with gold. So profitable was 



TERRITORIAL OFFICES ESTABLISHED 12 7 

mining in these streams and in the bars which 
formed their banks, that I have witnessed the 
clean-up of a string of sluices where, the gold 
dust was divided among the owners — share and 
share alike — by measuring it in a tin cup, using 
for a strike the back of a sheath-knife. 

A short time previous to the Snapping 
Andy-Hickey tragedy, another group of Florence 
notables arrived in Placerville, among the num- 
ber Bill Mayfield, Cherokee Bob's former com- 
panion. Mayfield killed Sheriff Blackburn in 
Nevada, was captured, tried and sentenced to be 
hanged but made his escape. Coming to Lewiston 
he joined Plummer, and became prominent 
among the robbers who pillaged the northern 
mining camps. Soon after his arrival in Placer- 
ville he became involved in a quarrel with a 
man named Evans over a card game. Mayfield 
drew his revolver, intending to settle the dis- 
pute by killing his adversary, but Evans ex- 
claimed "I'm not heeled" — the mountain expres- 
sion for "I am not armed." "Then go and heel 
yourself," said Mayfield, replacing his revolver 
in its holster at his belt, "and look out the next 
time you meet me, for I am bound to kill you at 
sight. One of us must die." 

The next day while Mayfield was walking 
down Granite street in company with friends, 
Evans, who was in a cabin on the north side of 
the street, doubtless waiting for Mayfield to pass, 
fired through a window, using a double barreled 
shotgun charged with buckshot. 

Mayfield, being accustomed to the use of a 



128 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

revolver, even in the act of falling, reached for 
his weapon, but the vital spark had flown and 
his gun-plays were over. He fell in the street, 
and expired shortly afterward, illustrating once 
more the truth of the maxim "Those that live by 
the sword die by it." 

Evans was placed under arrest, but made 
his escape the following night, leaving the coun- 
try on a horse furnished by some friend. He 
was never apprehended. 

The Boise News, a weekly paper then pub- 
lished in Idaho City every Saturday evening, by 
T. J. and J. S. Butler, was the first newspaper 
published in the Boise Basin, and it was eagerly 
sought and read by everyone, single copies being 
sold at fifty cents. Its issue of Saturday, Feb- 
ruary 27, 1864, contained an announcement of 
the appointment of the first county officers for 
Boise County; the appointments having been 
made by the Governor and confirmed by the 
council : 

Sheriff, Sumner Pinkham; Probate Judge, 
Daniel McLaughlin; County Commissioners, John 

C. Smith, Frank Moore, Henry Crow; Auditor, 
Washington R. Underwood; Treasurer, Charles 

D. Vajin; Assessor, George Woodman; Justices 
of the Peace for the various precincts, and other 
officers, all of whom were to hold their positions 
until their successors were elected and qualified. 

The same number of the Boise News also 
announced the convening of the first term of the 
district court in and for Boise County, Hon. 
Samuel C. Parks presiding. 



TERRITORIAL OFFICES ESTABLISHED 12 9 

Boise County at this time contained a popu- 
lation equal to, if not greater, than that of all 
the other counties combined; hence, as there had 
been no prior term, a great deal of business had 
accumulated. The first order of the court was 
the issuance of a venire, returnable on Thursday 
morning, the 25th, for thirty-six persons possess- 
ing the qualifications of jurors. The proceedings 
during this first term of court were conducted 
under the laws enacted by the first session of 
the Idaho Territorial legislature, and the jurors 
were summoned under the provisions of an act 
concerning jurors, Page 589, Session Laws, 1st 
Session, as follows : 

"AN ACT CONCERNING JURORS." 

"Be it Enacted by the Legislative Assembly of 
the Territory of Idaho, as follows: 

"Section 1. The Probate Judge and the Sher- 
iff of the county in which the term of the dis- 
trict court is or may be authorized by law to be 
held, shall at least ten days prior to the com- 
mencement of said term of court, select the 
names of one hundred persons, lawfully quali- 
fied to serve as jurors, from the assessment roll 
of such county; Provided: That that number 
of names are contained on such assessment roll; 
and the names of the persons so selected, after 
being written on separate slips of paper, shall 
be deposited in a box to be provided for such 
purpose, and from the names so deposited the 
judge and sheriff aforesaid shall alternately draw 

9 E. H. I. 



130 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

the names of thirty persons who shall constitute 
trial jurors, for the next ensuing term of such 
district court. 

"Section 2. The list of names so drawn, cer- 
tified to by the judge and sheriff as selected by 
them, shall thereupon be delivered to the clerk 
of the district court who, upon the receipt of the 
same, shall immediately issue a venire directed 
to the sheriff of the county, commanding him to 
summon the persons so named as trial jurors for 
such term of court, and the sheriff shall sum- 
mon such named persons at least three days 
prior to the commencing of such term of court. 

"Sec. 3. The venire as provided for in Section 
2 of this act shall be returned to the clerk of 
such district court, by the sheriff aforesaid, at 
least two days before the commencement of such 
term of court, and such venire, after its return, 
shall be subject to the inspection of any officer 
or attorney of the court. 

"Sec. 4. The box containing the residue of the 
names of the jury list as aforesaid shall, after 
such drawing, be locked up, and with the key 
deposited with the clerk of the district court for 
such county, and by him safely kept for future 
use by aforesaid officers, or as further provided 
in this act. 

"Sec. 5. When at any time during a term of 
the district court, it shall become necessary to 
summon other jurors than as hereinbefore pro- 
vided for, the clerk shall in open court, under the 
direction of the judge thereof, from such box, 
draw a sufficient number of names to constitute 



TERRITORIAL OFFICES ESTABLISHED 131 

additional trial jurors during such term of 
court; Provided: In case any such jurors so 
drawn reside at a great distance from the place 
where the court is held, the court may, in its dis- 
cretion, dispense with the summoning of such 
jurors and order another to be drawn instead 
thereof, and the clerk shall issue a venire direct- 
ed to the sheriff, for the summoning of such 
persons as trial jurors, and the sheriff shall pro- 
ceed forthwith to summon the same as such trial 
jurors, and with all possible diligence, make 
return with his proceedings thereon. 

"Sec. 6. When at any term of the district 
court for the want of an assessment roll, or suffi- 
cient time is not permitted in which to prepare 
and draw the list of jurors as provided in this 
act, or when from any cause which may appear 
satisfactory to such district judge, such list has 
not been prepared or drawn, or the sheriff has 
not summoned the jurors, or the names selected 
as jurors, placed in such box be exhausted, it 
shall be lawful for such district judge and sheriff 
to prepare a list of names of a sufficient number 
of persons, competent to serve as trial jurors, 
and deposit such names in a box, and at any 
time during a term of court when a jury shall 
be required, names of persons shall be drawn 
therefrom by the clerk, as provided in Section 
Five of this act, and from time to time, other 
names may be selected and placed in such box 
and drawn therefrom as hereinbefore provided 
for and summoned as such trial jurors; Pro- 



132 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

vided: That in the selection of names to be 
deposited in such box the name of no person 
from among the by-standers at such court be 
chosen and selected." 

It will be observed that Section 6 of this 
act provides a method for summoning a jury in 
case no assessment roll has been prepared. The 
second session of the legislature, for reasons 
best known to the members, repealed that law 
and enacted as follows : 

"Sec. 197. On or before the first day of the 
term, the judge shall, by an order to be entered 
on the minutes, direct the sheriff of the county 
to summon thirty-six persons from the citizens 
of the county, to appear forthwith, or at such 
time as may be named in said order. 

"Sec. 198. The clerk shall issue the summons, 
and the sheriff shall execute and return it at the 
time specified, with a list of the names of the 
persons so summoned. If he has been unable to , 
summon the whole number in the time allowed, 
he shall return the summons with the list of the 
names summoned. 

"See. 199. The court may, in its discretion, 
enlarge the time of the return, and direct the 
sheriff to summon the whole number, or may 
proceed to empanel a grand jury from the num- 
ber summoned. 

"Sec. 200. Upon the return of the summons, 
or upon the expiration of the further time al- 
lowed, the names of the persons summoned shall 
be called, and the court shall proceed to empanel 



TERRITORIAL OFFICES ESTABLISHED 13 3 

a grand jury and a trial jury, in like manner as 
if such persons had been empaneled upon a reg- 
ular drawing of a jury." 

It will be observed that under the provisions 
of the statute, the sheriff and his deputies could, 
if desired, secure a jury to either convict or 
acquit. The records of Boise county show that 
there was only one conviction for murder in the 
first degree in that county for several years, and 
the accused was found guilty of murdering a 
Chinaman, but was reprieved by the governor. 
It was said of him at that time that "He should 
have been hanged because he would not divide 
with his friends, the boys." He, consequently, 
had no influence. 

The political activity of the criminal class 
in securing the right men for sheriffs and depu- 
ties in the principal counties can easily be com- 
prehended. The sheriffs did not necessarily have 
to be bad men. All that was required of them 
was that they be "accommodating and friendly" 
in appointing their deputies. 

The next matter of importance to engage 
the attention of the court was the certificates of 
the attorneys and the administering of the oath 
of allegiance to the government, prescribed by 
the law enacted by the first session. The fol- 
lowing named lawyers were found to have the 
necessary credentials, and after taking the oath, 
were authorized to practice before the courts in 
Idaho : 

J. K. Shaffer, Edward Nugent, George I. 



134 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

Gilbert, H. L. Preston, John S. Grey, A Heed, 
John Cummins, Daniel McLaughlin, Frank Mil- 
ler, I. N. Smith, R. B. Snelling, George Ainslie, 
E. D. Holbrook, C. B. Wait, V. S. Anderson, J. 
S. Hascall, W. C. Rheem, W. R. Kethly, R. A. 
Pierce, J. J. Morland, H. W. 0. Margery, Joseph 
Miller. 

Many of the attorneys admitted at that 
time were able lawyers, and became distinguished 
in their profession in after years, some of them 
being chosen to positions of high honor. 

After the foregoing preliminary proceedings 
had been concluded, Judge Parks stated that he 
desired to make a few remarks, which he did as 
follows : 

"Gentlemen of the Bar: Before proceeding 
with the regular business of the term I owe it 
to myself, to you and to the people of this county 
to make a few remarks. The position of a 
Judge of the second judicial district was not 
sought by me. In saying this I do not say 
that the position is not an honorable one. On 
the contrary, it is one of which an abler man 
than I might well be proud. But it is my desire 
and expectation, and I believe it was yours, that 
the Chief Justice of this Territory should be 
assigned to this district. There is in this part 
of the Territory far more population and legal 
business than in either of the other two dis- 
tricts. There are many cases here involving 
character, liberty and life; there are others here 
on which depend large pecuniary interest. It is 



TERRITORIAL OFFICES ESTABLISHED 135 

doubtful whether any court in so new a country 
ever needed more ability and experience. 

'This district properly belongs to Judge 
Edgerton, not only from his position as Chief 
Justice, but from his high moral and official 
character, and his large experience. But circum- 
stances rendered it inconvenient, if not impos- 
sible, for him to be here; while the pressure of 
business in your court, the crowded state of your 
jail, and the natural impatience of your people 
made it necessary that a court should be held at 
as early a day as possible. Under these circum- 
stances, Governor Wallace assigned this dis- 
trict to me. I consented to the arrangement re- 
luctantly, and with a deep sense of the responsi- 
bility it devolved upon me. To some, and per- 
haps to a considerable extent, the property, the 
liberty and the lives of many men depend upon 
my action in this court. I do not say that any 
judge can always decide aright; I know that I 
cannot. All that I promise is that to the best 
of my ability I will discharge the duties incum- 
bent upon me, and by so doing strive to secure 
the confidence of the bar and of the people. And 
from my acquaintance for some months past 
with some of your number, and the cordial 
greeting you have extended to me on my arrival 
among you, and the uniform courtesy with which 
you have treated me since, I feel confident I 
shall have your assistance in the effort to make 
this court a means of suppressing disorder and 
wrong, and promoting good morals, harmony 
and peace. 



136 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

"Whatever ponular prejudice there maj be 
against the profession of the law, it is a useful 
and noble one, calculated, when properly pur- 
sued, to expand and elevate the mind and heart, 
and has furnished many of the loftiest intel- 
lects and purest characters that have adorned 
the history of our race. Associated in fraternal 
relations with the members of such a profession 
here, I cannot doubt that I shall find them in 
the conduct of the business of this court devoted 
to the real and substantial interest of their 
clients, and not to technicality and free form; 
relying for success not upon artifice and fraud, 
but upon professional knowledge and skill — lab- 
oring not to embarrass but to assist the Court. 

"Amid the difficulties and embarrassments 
of an untried position, of an unfamiliar practice, 
and of heavy responsibility, I rely for success 
much upon your assistance and generosity. In 
some degree my reputation depends upon the re- 
sult of this court; if it shall not succeed, I am 
sure the fault will not be yours. Hoping that I 
may not fail, and that the just expectation of 
the community may not be disappointed, I enter 
upon the discharge of the duties of the office 
assigned me." 

The term of court thus auspiciously begun 
made an enviable record as to the amount of 
work transacted. 

Idaho City proper, at the time the first 
court was held, consisted qf two streets running 
parallel with one of the creeks for a distance of 



TERRITORIAL OFFICES ESTABLISHED 137 

approximately one-half mile, intersected by cross 
streets. It also had an extensive suburb known 
as "Buena Vista Bar," together with others of 
minor importance in close, proximity. The build- 
ings which covered the townsite were with but 
few exceptions of wood, many of logs, hewn on 
two sides and neatly constructed. The lumber 
used at first was whipped or whipsawed, which 
process, with wages from eight to twelve dol- 
lars per day, made the erection of buildings an 
expensive luxury. 

Two large and well conducted hotels were 
in operation for the entertainment of the trav- 
eling public, in either of which accommodations 
consisting of room and board could be had for, 
approximately, present-day prices at firsts-class 
hotels; yet the freight rate on all supplies from 
Umatilla Landing on the Columbia river, in Ore- 
gon, which was the nearest shipping point, was 
not less than an average of $500 per ton, or 
25 cents per pound, while nothing in the line of 
vegetables sold for less, and generally for much 
more than that, yet neither of these hotels had 
bar-rooms or sold liquors. 

In addition to the hostelries named, were 
many restaurants where lodging was not pro- 
vided. These were patronized, rather than the 
hotels, by persons who had places to sleep in 
connection with their business. The restaurants 
never closed, and were frequented largely during 
the night, when tin-horn gamblers, the demi- 
monde, and other doubtful characters are gen- 



138 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

erally in evidence. Saloons were more numerous 
in all mining towns than any other class of busi- 
ness, and as gambling was usually an adjunct, 
every effort possible was exerted to make them 
attractive. Talented musicians were employed 
at high salaries, and not infrequently girls, 
called "hurdy-gurdies," were engaged to dance 
with all comers who desired that kind of amuse- 
ment at the nominal price of fifty, cents per 
dance, and the drinks for self and partner, which 
cost fifty cents more, or one dollar net per dance. 

The girls were engaged by the proprietors 
of the "social resorts/' in sets of four, with a 
chaperone, who accompanied them at all times. 

They were almost invariably German girls, 
and although they were brought into contact with 
rough people and sometimes witnessed even the 
shedding of human blood, the rude, generous 
chivalry of the mountain men, some of whom 
were always found in these resorts, was a guar- 
antee of protection from violence, and strange 
as it may sound to those of modern times, these 
girls were pure women, who simply did the 
work they had bargained to do, and when their 
contracts expired, most of them married men 
whose acquaintance they had made while pur- 
suing their vocation, the men who knew them 
best, and with the money they had earned by 
dancing with "Wild Bill," "Texas Pete," and 
others, helped to buy a home for themselves and 
husbands. The poor girls, and they danced only 
because they were poor, had kind hearts and 
wonderful patience and forbearance. 



TERRITORIAL OFFICES ESTABLISHED 139 

They proved themselves loyal wives and 
tender, affectionate mothers. Most of them have 
gone to render their final account, but some of 
their children remain in Idaho, the land of their 
mothers' adoption, honored and respected citi- 
zens. 

Among the many musicians employed as an 
attraction in the saloons and gambling houses, 
was a violinist named Kelly, whose proficiency 
as a ' 'fiddler'' was well known through all the 
mountain regions of the Pacific slope. He com- 
manded a salary second to none and was engaged 
in the largest gambling resort in the city. The 
contract under which he played included the 
installation of a swinging stage, or platform, 
swung by iron rods from the upper joists, several 
feet above the heads of those who might stand 
on the main floor below. This platform was 
reached by a movable ladder, which, after he 
had ascended, he pulled up out of reach of those 
below. The object was two-fold: First, when 
located upon his aerie, he was removed from the 
danger of panics which were an almost nightly 
occurrence, caused from the sportive instincts of 
some visitor, who, having imbibed too freely 
of the regulation vest-pocket whiskey, or having 
suffered some real or imaginary grievance, pro- 
ceeded to distribute the leaden pellets of a Colt's 
navy revolver, not only into the anatomy of the 
offender, but quite as frequently to the serious 
if not fatal injury of some innocent bystander. 

When it is understood that it was not unus- 



140 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

ual for five hundred men to be present in the 
room at the time these diversions occurred, it 
is not difficult to imagine the kind of panic li- 
able to ensue. Hence, the first object of Kelly's 
lofty perch. His second object was to be above 
the course of flying missies and thus preserve his 
violin, which was a valuable one, from the chance 
of being perforated by stray bullets. 

It seemed to be an instinct with Kelly to 
protect it, for he invariably rose to his feet when 
the first shot was fired and faced the disturb- 
ance, holding his instrument behind him, evi- 
dently p refer ing that any stray bullet should 
find lodgment in his body rather than in his 
violin. 

As an artist with the bow he had no equal 
in that day; he could make his pet instrument 
tell a plaintive tale of home and mother, or of 
tearful ones who awaited, oft in vain, the return 
of father, brother or lover; again he would 
arouse the reckless instincts of his hearers by 
some rollicking tune which told of wine and 
song. He was a big-hearted son of the Emerald 
Isle and although untoward circumstances had 
made him the leading attraction of a den of 
iniquity, he loved best to play those tender chords 
that awakened the memories of other days and 
sent some of his hearers back to their lonely 
cabins up the gulch better men for the hour they 
had spent under the musician's spell, even in 
that dreadful haunt. On such occasions he 



TERRITORIAL OFFICES ESTABLISHED 141 

seemed to be inspired by his own music and all 
unconscious of games and men, with eyes closed 
to his surroundings, he played on and on, such 
strains as melt the hardest hearts. 



CHAPTER IX. 

MAGRUDER MURDER — PURSUIT, ARREST AND 
CONVICTION OF THE MURDERERS. 

T N AUGUST, 1863, prior to the meeting of the 
-* first session of the Territorial legislature, a 
prominent packer named Lloyd Magruder, who 
had been engaged for a couple of years in pack- 
ing supplies from Lewiston into the various 
camps in the Clearwater and Salmon river coun- 
tries, purchased a cargo of supplies suitable for 
a mining camp, and loading his train of mules, 
which numbered about sixty, started over the 
Bitter Root mountains to Virginia City — then in 
Idaho — a distance of nearly three hundred miles. 

During the many trips Magruder had made 
to Lewiston in the previous two years, he had 
become well and favorably known to many of 
the citizens of that town. In those days of 
danger and uncertainty, the men whom a man 
like Magruder gathered into his circle of friends 
were of the class to whom the word "friendship" 
meant something more than the mere breath of 
air used to utter the word. 

Among these friends was Hill Beachy, the 
proprietor and landlord of the principal hotel in 
the town. He and Magruder were old acquain- 



MAGRUDER MURDER 143 

tances, they having known each other before 
coming to Lewiston. 

Having made so many trips into the moun- 
tains with his pack train without serious adven- 
ture, Magruder appeared to have no apprehen- 
sion of impending danger when he started off 
on the long trail to Virginia City. But Beachy, 
the proprietor of the hotel, was in a position to 
know the kinds of characters Magruder was 
likely to encounter, both before and after reach- 
ing Virginia City, and therefore he lent him a 
reliable gun, and warned him of the dangers he 
might encounter. 

The departure of such a big mule-train for 
such a distant camp was an event in Lewiston 
at that time, and as the mules strung up the 
Clearwater along what is now Main street, and 
were lost to sight near where the railroad station 
now stands, one of those who witnessed the 
start and watched until his friend disappeared 
around a turn in the trail, was Hill Beachy, who 
from the first had a premonition that his friend 
Magruder would never return. Among the 
others who witnessed the departure of the mule- 
train were three men, D. C. Lowry, David How- 
ard and James Romain, who were disciples of 
the Plummer school and believers in the piratical 
doctrine "dead men tell no tales/' 

These men soon after Magruder left began 
preparations to follow on his trail, and having 
secured a few more men who were unsuspicious 
of the characters of Lowry, Howard and Romain, 



144 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

and all having procured riding animals and addi- 
tional pack horses to carry their provisions and 
blankets, after a delay of about ten days, started 
in pursuit of Magruder. The owner of a heavily 
laden pack train, having a long trip to make, is 
necessarily anxious to spare his mules as much 
as possible; hence his drives were short, usually 
not more than fifteen miles per day and if camp- 
ing places with water and grass can be found, 
the daily journey is more likely to be limited to 
twelve or fourteen miles. So the pursuing party 
making double the distance each day, that 
Magruder made, came up with him before he 
reached his destination. Magruder knew noth- 
ing about the characters of the men who had 
joined him, and as they appeared to be a jolly 
lot of mountain men and willing to travel with 
him and assist him in caring for and packing 
his mules, asking nothing for their assistance 
but their board, he willingly accepted their aid. 
In loading a pack-train, the packers worked 
in pairs. The animal, horse or mule, after be- 
ing saddled up, is led up to the cargo he is to 
carry and then blindfolded. Each man then 
picks up a side-pack and with a man working 
on each side of the animal, it is soon lashed in 
place. Therefore it is convenient to have plenty 
of men, so that the mules or horses, as the 
animals may be, need not be held after being 
loaded, awaiting the others, so on that account, if 
for no other, Magruder found the assistance of 
these additional men quite acceptable. 



MAGRUDER MURDER 145 

Finally Virginia City was reached without 
incident. A large tent was erected in the out- 
skirts of the town, and the goods stored within, 
ready for sale. The men who accompanied 
Lowry, Howard and Romain from Lewiston, all 
except one, immediately started out to find work 
or look for "diggins," and Magruder saw them 
no more, but the four, including D. C. Lowry, 
David Howard, James Romain and one other of 
the Lewiston party whose name is unknown, 
hung around Magruder's camp, helping at times 
in caring for the mules, and always taking great 
interest in the rapid sale of the cargo and the 
consequent accumulation of gold dust received 
in exchange for the goods. It was about the 
middle of October before the last remnant of the 
goods was sold, and since Magruder was anx- 
ious to return to his family before the winter 
snow blocked his trail, he knew that he must 
not delay his departure, as the Bitter Root 
range, which he was obliged to cross, was liable 
to be covered at any time after early October. 
He had a large mule train and their equipment, 
besides having about thirty thousand dollars in 
gold dust, the result of his venture. Help must 
be engaged to assist in bringing the mules over 
the mountains and guard the treasure. The 
three men whose acquaintance he had first made 
on the trail and whom he had no reason to sus- 
pect, expressed a willingness to return with 
him, as did also another one of the original 
party, William Page, a trapper. So he engaged 

10 B. H. I. 



146 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

these four men and in addition hired two others, 
a man named Phillips, the other named Allen. 
Two young men who were anxious to get out of 
the country were also supplied with saddle 
mules and added to the party, thus making the 
number nine men. The two young men who 
were last to join the party were trying to return 
to their homes in Missouri, having secured about 
two thousand dollars each in gold dust. If they 
gave Magruder their names in starting he prob- 
ably made a memorandum in his diary which 
was destroyed, so their names are not known. 

The start was made under favorable cir- 
cumstances, the mules having had such a long 
rest on excellent grass, were in fine condition 
and everything bespoke a speedy and pleasant 
trip; and such it proved to be until more than 
half the distance to Lewiston was covered, when 
one night in camp a tragedy was enacted. 

As near as can be determined by the evi- 
dence afterward brought out, it had been 
planned long before by Lowry, Howard and 
Romain to appropriate Magruder's effects. It 
seems probable that their first idea was to mur- 
der him and his packers while on their way to 
Virginia City, and appropriate the mules and 
cargo, but as they could not assemble enough 
of their gang to successfully carry out that 
enterprise, it was thought safer to permit Magru- 
der to sell his cargo and take possession of his 
effects while on the trail returning to Lewiston. 
It was resolved by Lowry, Howard and Romain 



MAGRUDER MURDER 147 

that they would kill the entire party except the 
trapper Page. A night was chosen when they 
were encamped on a ridge which broke off on 
one side almost perpendicular for several hun- 
dren feet into a canyon or mountain gorge. Near 
the summit was a spring which furnished men 
and animals water. From a confession made by 
Page, the trapper, it appears that on the night 
selected for the massacre, Page was put on 
guard and told what was going to happen, and 
ordered to keep still under penalty of death. 
Magruder and Lowry were also on guard away 
from the camp in an opposite direction, while 
Phillips, Allan and the other men were fast 
asleep in their blankets near the fire. During the 
first watch of the night, Lowry, who was on 
guard with Magruder, approached within strik- 
ing distance, and dealing him a powerful blow 
with an axe which he had concealed under his 
coat, awaiting the fatal moment, knocked him 
senseless to the ground, where he was speedily 
dispatched. The killing of the sleeping men in 
camp was then quickly accomplished. Page, the 
trapper, who was watching the mules near by, 
claimed that he saw the murders committed. 
As soon as daylight arrived, the mules were 
brought up and five of the best were selected, 
four for saddle mules for the men to ride and 
one to pack their plunder. The other animals 
were then driven into a deep canyon and they, 
too, were murdered. They tied the murdered 
men in blankets and dropped them over the 



148 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

bluff near camp, into the bottom of the canyon, 
several hundred feet below, after which, having 
secured the gold dust, they made a bonfire and 
burned all the camp equipage, including the 
aparejos and other paraphernalia of a pack train. 
The foregoing being accomplished, they started 
for the lower country, expecting to ford the 
Clearwater above Lewiston and keep on down 
the north bank, thus avoiding the town, but 
when they reached the river, the weather having 
turned cold, the water was full of running ice, 
so they were afraid to attempt to ford, and 
going into camp they remained there until in the 
night, when they quietly entered Lewiston. They 
found a stock ranchman with whom they left 
their mules, and took the early morning stage 
for Walla Walla, booking themselves under fic- 
titious names. 

Ih those days passengers from Lewiston en 
route to Portland, Oregon, took passage first on 
stage to Walla Walla, then on a second stage 
line from Walla Walla to Wallula; there passage 
was secured by steamer, including two portages 
to Portland. 

Hill Beachy, who was yet keeping his hotel 
in Lewiston, upon learning that four men had 
entered town in the night, disguised, and taken 
the early stage out in the morning, entertaining 
the same fears for the safety of his friend Ma- 
gruder that he had from the day of the latter's 
departure for Virginia City, seemed intuitively 
to surmise that the travelers had robbed Magru- 



MAGRUDER MURDER 149 

der. So strong was this intuition, that he made 
complaint before an officer, and since Governor 
Wallace was in Lewiston, he obtained requisi- 
tions on the governors of Oregon, Washington 
and California. He intended to start immedi- 
ately in pursuit, prepared to have them extra- 
dited, no matter in which of the foregoing 
jurisdictions they might be found. 

Beachy's friends, however, persuaded him 
to wait a few days in order to see if something 
definite could not be learned. Accordingly he 
postponed his departure, and learning that the 
men whom he suspected had left mules which 
were to be sent out to a ranch, he had the ani- 
mals and saddles brought in for examination. 
One of the mules was recognized at once as 
having been Magruder's saddle animal, and one 
of the saddles was also recognized as formerly 
belonging to Magruder. This evidence removed 
the last lingering doubt and satisfied the most 
skeptical. 

Beachy at once began his preparations to 
start in pursuit of the murderers. A man 
named Tom Pike was engaged by Beachy to 
accompany him, and so equipped with the neces- 
sary credentials, they started to overtake and 
capture the fugitives, who now had such an 
advantageous start. Taking a private convey- 
ance and changing horses several times, they 
made a rapid drive to Walla Walla, thence took 
the stage to Wallula, from which point they 
took passage by steamer to Portland. Arriving 



150 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

there, they learned that four men answering 
the description of those wanted had been in the 
city a few days previously, and who while there 
seemed to be well provided with money. In fact, 
they had made a deposit in a faro bank amount- 
ing to several hundred dollars, but they had de- 
parted on a steamship bound for San Francisco. 
Having learned of their departure, Beachy sent 
Pike after them by water route, while he started 
overland, not caring to await the steamer, for, 
at that time, the sailing days were infrequent. 
The overland trip from Portland, Oregon, to 
Sacramento, by stage, was one that few men 
cared to undertake. The road traveled up the 
Willamette and Umpqua Valleys were proverb- 
ial for deep, sticky and numerous chuck holes, 
and since the stages ran both by night and day, 
the passengers, necessarily, had but little op- 
portunity for wooing Morpheus. Beachy was 
fully aware of these unpleasant features con- 
nected with the proposed trip, yet, without hesi- 
tancy, he boarded the Concord coach and started 
overland, fixed in his determination to capture 
the murderers of his friend. After three days 
and nights, cooped up in the stage, he reached 
Yreka, then the nearest point from Portland 
where telegraphic communication could be had 
with San Francisco. From this point he suc- 
ceeded in wiring a full description of the sus- 
pects to the chief of police in San Francisco, and 
a brief detail of the murder, and requested that 
they be arrested and held, pending his arrival. 



MAGRUDER MURDER 151 

The request was carried out, and upon his arrival 
a few days later, he found the murderers behind 
prison bars. In addition to the arrest, they had 
traced the dust the men had brought with them 
on the steamer to the U. S. mint. 

After an embarrassing delay, caused by a 
writ of habeas corpus, Tom Pike having in the 
meantime arrived, with his prisoners securely 
ironed, Beachy and Pike started by steamer to 
Portland, thence by the usual route to Lewiston, 
where they arrived on December 7th, 1863, the 
same day on which convened the first session 
of the legislative assembly of the Territory of 
Idaho. Before leaving San Francisco, William 
Page, the trapper, who admitted having seen 
the murders committed, confessed to Beachy, and 
gave all the particulars of the tragedy. Upon 
his arrival in Lewiston with the four prisoners, 
had Beachy been a man of less determination, 
the citizens would have given the accused but 
short shrift; but he told them that the prisoners 
were his, and that before leaving San Francisco 
he had promised them that they should have a 
fair trial by a jury, and his promise must and 
should be kept. 

Arrangements were made for holding the 
first term of district court ever held in Idaho, 
commencing on January 5th, 1864. Accordingly 
the prisoners were confined in jail and closely 
guarded until they were brought out and ar- 
raigned for trial. During the time they were 
imprisoned, the legislative assembly effected an 



152 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

organization and began their work in a spirited 
manner. 

The organic act which created the Territory 
of Idaho failed to provide that the laws of the 
Territories, from which the new Territory was 
created, should continue in force, until such 
time as the legislative assembly of Idaho could 
enact Civil and Criminal Codes. Hence there 
was a period during the first year of Idaho's 
territorial existence, extending from April 3rd, 

1863, until the first legislative session had met 
and enacted laws, when we had neither Civil 
nor Criminal Acts, and were entirely dependent 
upon the general laws of the United States, 
which were inadequate to meet all conditions. 
Consequently the first legislative assembly was 
confronted with conditions requiring prompt and 
speedy measures. 

The first district court to be held in the 
Territory was to be convened on January 5th, 

1864, less than one month from the first day of 
the legislative session. The four men then in 
custody charged with the atrocious murder of 
Magruder and his party were to be tried during 
this term of court — and as yet Idaho had no 
Criminal Practice Act. Fortunately, however, 
the members of the first legislature were equal 
to meeting the occasion. They promptly passed 
the following act — an act adopting the Common 
Law of England : 



MAGRUDER MURDER 153 

"Be It Enacted by the Legislative Assembly of 
the Territory of Idaho, as Follows: 
"Section 1. The common law of England, so 
far as the same is not inconsistent with the pro- 
visions of the Constitution of the United States, 
the Organic Act and laws of this territory, shall 
be the law of the land in this territory. 

"Sec. 2. This act to take effect and be in 
force from and after its approval by the gov- 
ernor. Approved January 4, 1864." 

Thus, one day in advance of the coming 
trial, the district court was provided with au- 
thority to cover any void existing, heretofore, in 
the statute. 

Judge Samuel C. Parks was assigned to hold 
the first term of district court in Lewiston, be- 
ginning on the 5th day of January, 1864. Of the 
four men held for the murder of the Magruder 
party, Lowry, Howard and Romain were indicted 
for murder in the first degree, and were at once 
placed on trial and promptly convicted, as the 
chain of evidence was complete. 

William Page, the trapper, having turned 
state's evidence, was permitted to depart after 
the trial. Rumor has it that he was killed soon 
afterwards, but by whom it is not definitely 
known. The three convicted men were sentenced 
by Judge Parks on January 26 to be hanged on 
March 4th, 1864, by the neck until dead. 

The sentence was duly executed, and thus 
miserably perished a trio of human fiends— 
their execution striking terror to the hearts of 



154 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

their kind, and causing a prompt reinforcement 
to the troop of scoundrels who had already trans- 
ferred their activities to Boise. Basin and other 
congenial camps. The territorial legislature be- 
ing in session during the progress of the trial, 
upon the recommendation of Judge Parks, it 
made an appropriation to pay Hill Beachy for 
the pursuit and capture of the Magruder mur- 
derers, including expenses incident thereto, 
$6,244.00. (See page 625, First Session Laws 
1865. (1863). 

The money found on the prisoners, together 
with that they had deposited in the U. S. mint 
at San Francisco, was paid to the family of 
Magruder after the necessary formalities had 
been complied with. The loyalty of Hill Beachy 
to his friend, combined with his native fearless- 
ness and determination, was the leading factor 
in bringing the episode to a successful ending. 

The following spring Hill Beachy, with a 
party of six others, visited the scene of the 
tragedy and buried the remains of the victims. 
The particulars of the gruesome find, together 
with the details of their trip, after being writ- 
ten and signed by all the party, were printed in 
a Lewiston paper. This removed every doubt of 
the correctness of the testimony of Page, upon 
whose evidence the men were convicted. 

The punishment meted to the men who mur- 
dered Magruder and his party was justly mer- 
ited; and their conviction and subsequent execu- 
tion was endorsed by all who were familiar with 



MAGRUDER MURDER 155 

the tragedy. Yet, had an appeal been taken to 
the supreme court of the territory, the red- 
handed fiends might have escaped execution by 
the officers of the law. But the public was so 
thoroughly aroused that no technicalities would 
have been permitted to prevent their punishment. 
The following decision of the Idaho terri- 
torial supreme court is of interest, as it shows 
the utter helplessness of those who by their 
instincts and training were believers in a gov- 
ernment by law during these terrible months 
when there was no law: 

APPEAL FROM THE SECOND DISTRICT, BOISE COUNTY. 

C. B. Waite, DisMct Attorney, for the People. 
S. A. Merritt, for the Respondent 

C. J. McBride delivered the opinion of the 
Court, Cummin, J., concurring, Kelly, J., dissent- 
ing. 

This case comes up on appeal from a decis- 
ion of the district court, quashing the indictment. 

The following are the facts : The defendant, 
John Williams, was charged by the indictment 
with the crime of highway robbery, committed 
in the month of September, 1863, in the county 
of Boise, Territory of Idaho. The indictment 
was found at the July term, 1865, and the de- 
fendant, being in custody, pleaded not guilty. 
Subsequent to this plea, but before trial, the de- 
fendant, by his counsel, moved to set aside the 
indictment. The motion was sustained, and the 



156 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

prisoner ordered to be discharged. This ruling 
was excepted to by the attorney for the people, 
and the case stands for decision upon this mo- 
tion, and the alleged error of the court below 
in granting the same. Preliminary to the in- 
vestigation of the main question which is in- 
volved in the decision below, it will be necessary 
to refer to some points raised by the district 
attorney in the brief by the appellants. 

It is claimed by the appellants that though 
the indictment charges the offense to have been 
committed in September, 1863, the time is no 
material ingredient of the offense charged, and 
that the indictment would be supported if the 
proof should show that the crime was committed 
within the statutory time, although not upon the 
day charged, and as there was no proof — there 
having been no trial — that the offense was com- 
mitted in September, 1863, when it was claimed 
no law existed for its punishment, that the court 
erred in granting the motion, as it might have 
appeared that it was committed after that time, 
and when no such objection would lie. This is 
an error. For the purpose of the motion the 
court must take the facts as stated in the in- 
dictment to be true. Time is material in this 
offense, and though it need not be proved as 
laid strictly, still where the time becomes a ques- 
tion of materiality the court must assume that 
it is stated according to the fact, and if there 
was no law defining this crime, and inflicting 
a penalty at the time when it was alleged to 



MAGRUDER MURDER 157 

have been committed, then the indictment 
should have been set aside, and there is no 
error. 

The second point of the appellant is that 
the defendant having been set at liberty under 
the order of the court below, the court should 
not take cognizance of this appeal. This appeal 
is taken by the people, and the district attorney 
has the right, if he chooses, to dismiss the 
appeal; but to prosecute the appeal, and deny 
the effect of its design, is certainly not allow- 
able. 

A third point assigned is that the motion 
was made to set aside the indictment after the 
defendant had entered his plea of not guilty, 
and that the motion came too late, and, there- 
fore, the order should have been refused, and 
now reversed. The statute settles this question 
— and reason as well; the objection going to the 
merits of the prosecution could be raised at any 
time before or after judgment. It would have 
been the duty of the court to consider it any 
time during the progress of the trial, and to 
have arrested the judgment after verdict. It 
would be the height of absurdity to say that a 
court might be fully convinced that it had no 
authority to pass sentence upon a case, yet must 
proceed to try a criminal because it had begun 
the proceedings. 

Having disposed of these preliminary ques- 
tions, it remains to be decided whether there 
was any law for the punishment of defendant 



158 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

for the offense charged in the indictment. On 
the third day of March, 1863, Congress organ- 
ized the Territory of Idaho, by cutting off cer- 
tain territory from the already organized terri- 
tories of Washington, Dakota, Nebraska and 
Utah. The Territory of Idaho then became a 
separate political community, and the power of 
government, of making and enforcing statutes, 
of preserving the rights of the people and pun- 
ishing wrong-doers, was vested in the citizens 
of the territory in the manner prescribed by the 
organic act. Did this segregation of the terri- 
tory of Idaho from the other territories named 
leave it without any criminal code? It undoubt- 
edly was a repeal of the several organic acts 
named — they no longer had any form or valid- 
ity, had been superseded and become nullities. 
How they could cease to exist, and yet laws 
remain in force, deriving their validity from 
authority conferred by them, we cannot under- 
stand. It would be to extinguish the fountain 
and insist upon the rivulet continuing its flow 
— cutting off the source of life ana affirming 
continued vitality. To provide against any such 
hiatus in the criminal code, it is always provided 
that the remedies shall subsist in full force. 
Thus in organizing a state government the uni- 
versal practice is to continue, by special provis- 
ion, the pre-existing laws; so in organizing new 
territories the usual provision is to continue 
the laws of the old political division until the 
enactment of new ones. 



MAGRUDER MURDER 159 

In organizing the territory of Oregon, in 
1848, Congress affirmed and continued the laws 
of the former provisional government until they 
should be altered or repealed. The uniform 
practice in this respect conclusively establishes, 
we think, the principle that the laws of the old 
organization have no force in the new political 
community unless by special provision. We 
are now speaking only of criminal laws. In 
civil matters the question of rights and remedies 
are so different that the same rules do not 
necessarily apply. 

In the act organizing this territory no pro- 
vision is contained recognizing the former laws. 
Indeed, to have done so would have given vital- 
ity to four different codes of law in different 
parts of the new territory. Confusion would 
have followed inevitably, and the fact of this 
difficulty sufficiently accounts for the omission 
on the part of Congress to provide for their 
continuance until the new legislature should 
provide for the wants of the country. 

There is no similarity between this case 
and that of a conquered or ceded territory whose 
sovereignty is transferred from one authority 
to another. Then the laws pass with the people 
and the soil — but not so when the sovereign 
authority dismembers a piece of territory and 
makes no provision for the new community. 

We are therefore of opinion that there was 
no statute punishing the offense charged in this 
indictment at the time it was alleged to have 



160 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

been committed, and that even if the facts al- 
leged be true no sentence could be pronounced. 
The judgment of the court below will therefore 
be affirmed. Judgment affirmed. 

As will be understood, the effect of the 
foregoing decision was that it released from 
confinement all prisoners serving sentence for 
the commission of crimes committed during the 
period between the creation of Idaho Territory 
March 3rd, 1863, and the passage and approval 
of statutes defining such crimes and providing 
penalties therefor; or, an interim of approxi- 
mately nine months during which time there 
was no law within the borders of the new Terri- 
tory to protect either life or property. 



CHAPTER X. 

ACT TO CREATE AND ORGANIZE SKAMANIA COUNTY. 

A T THE TIME when the first discoveries of 
'**' gold were made in Orofino, Elk City, War- 
rens, Florence, Boise Basin and Owyhee, those 
districts were within the Territory of Washing- 
ton, which was created by act of Congress 
March 2nd, 1853, and the counties of Shoshone, 
Nez Perce, Idaho and Boise had been created by 
act of the Washington legislature. 

Prior to the foregoing subdivisions being 
created, all that portion of what is now Idaho, 
lying south of the most southerly boundary of 
what is now Latah county, was incorporated in 
Skamania county by an act of the Washington 
legislature, passed in 1854, as follows: 

"An Act to Create and Organize the County of 
Skamania." 

"Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislative 
Assembly of the Territory of Washington : That 
all that portion of Clarke County lying east of 
Cape Horn be, and the same is hereby organ- 
ized into a county, with all the powers, rights 
and privileges of other counties in the territory; 
and that it shall be bounded as follows: Com- 
mencing at a point due north of a rock on the 

11 E. H. I. 



162 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

south bank of the Columbia river, called 'Roos- 
ter Rock/ running thence north to the parallel 
of 46 degrees and 30 minutes north latitude; 
thence along said parallel east to the Rocky 
mountains; thence south along the base of the 
Rocky mountains to the southeast corner of 
Washington; thence down along the line of 
Oregon and Washington territories to place of 
beginning. 

"Sec. 2. Said County shall be called 'Ska- 
mania.' " — [Session Laws Washington Territory 
1854,]. 

The same session of the Washington legis- 
lature created Walla Walla county, including 
within its boundaries all of that portion of what 
is now Idaho lying north of the 46th degree of 
north latitude — as shown by the following copy 
of the act: 

"An Act to Create and Organize the County of 
Walla Walla." 

"Section 1. Be it enacted by the legislative 
assembly of the Territory of Washington : That 
all that portion of Skamania County within the 
following described boundaries, to- wit: Com- 
mencing at a point opposite the mouth of Des- 
chutes River, thence running north to the 49th 
parallel; thence east along said parallel to the 
summit of Rocky Mountains, thence south along 
summit of Rocky Mountains to 46th degree of 
parallel; thence west along said 46th parallel to 
where it crosses the Columbia river ; thence along 



SKAMANIA COUNTY 163 

said Columbia river to place of beginning, be 
and the same is hereby constituted and organized 
into a separate county, to be known and called 
Walla Walla county. 

"Sec. 2. That all the territory embraced 
within said boundaries shall compose a county 
for civil and military purposes, and shall be 
under the same laws, rules, restrictions and 
regulation, as all other counties in this Territory, 
and entitled to elect the same county officers as 
other counties are entitled to elect. 

"Sec. 3. The said county shall be attached to 
Skamania county for judicial purposes." — [Pri- 
vate and Local Laws of 185 U, pages A72-7S']. 

As will be observed, the two counties of the 
Territory of Washington, Walla Walla and Ska- 
mania, embraced the entire area of what is now 
the state of Idaho, and so continued until after 
the discoveries of placer gold were made at 
Orofino and other tributaries of Clearwater 
river. 

The members of early legislative bodies in 
the northwest were distinguished, among other 
traits, for the paucity of language used in their 
enactments. They could embody an area of 
country equal to an empire into a county, defin- 
ing its boundaries and naming its officers with 
remarkable brevity. For instance, the creation 
of Idaho county by the Washington legislature 
was as follows: 



164 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

"An Act to Create and Organize the County of 
Idaho. 

"Section 1. Be it enacted by the legislative 
assembly of the Territory of Washington: That 
all that part of Washington Territory south of 
Nez Perce County, and east of Snake river, be 
organized into a county called 'Idaho.' 

"Sec. 2. Be it further enacted that: L. 
Lindsey be, and is hereby appointed County 

Auditor; Robert Gray, Robert Burns and 

Sanborn be appointed County Commissioners; 
Jefferson Standifer, Sheriff; — Parker, Jus- 
tice of the Peace for said County until the next 
election. 

"Passed December 20th, 1861.— Jas. Leo Fer- 
guson, Speaker of House of Representatives, A, 
R. Burbank, Pres. of Council. — [Laws Washing- 
ton Territory, Ninth Session, 1861-62.] 

The act creating Nez Perce County, although 
a little more verbose, contains no extraneous ver- 
biage — the following being a copy: 
"An Act Creating and Organizing the County of 
Nez Perce." 

"Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the legislative as- 
sembly of the Territory of Washington: That 
all that portion of Washington Territory lying 
within the following boundaries be organized 
into a county called Nez Perce, to-wit: 

"Beginning at the mouth of the Clearwater; 
thence up the same to the South Fork of the 
Clearwater; thence with the South Fork to the 
Lo Lo Creek; thence with the southern boun- 
daries of Shoshone County to the summit of the 



SKAMANIA COUNTY 165 

Bitter Root Mountains; thence south to the 
main divide between the waters of the Salmon 
river and the South Fork of the Clearwater to 
the Snake river; thence with the Snake river 
west to the mouth of the Clearwater, to the place 
of beginning. 

"Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That J. M. 
Valsah be appointed County Auditor; A. Creacy, 

Whitfield Kertley and be appointed 

County Commissioners; Sanford Owens, Sheriff, 

and Justice of the Peace for said 

County, until the next general election. 

"Passed December 20, 1861. Jas. Leo Fer- 
gunson, Speaker House of Representatives ; A. R. 
Burbank, President of the Council. — [Session 
Laws, 1861-62, Olympia, Washington]. 

The act which created Boise County was also 
passed by the Washington Territorial legislature 
at the same session, but not until later in the 
session, its passage being only a few months 
after the discovery of gold in Boise Basin. 

The legislature either believed the creation 
and organization of Boise County of more im- 
portance than Nez Perce County or Idaho Coun- 
ty, or else they had more time for its enactment, 
hence the "bill" was more lengthy. It is as fol- 
lows: 

"An Act to Create and Organize the County of 
Boise:* 

"Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the legislative as- 
sembly of the Territory of Washington, That all 



166 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

that portion of Idaho County embraced within 
the following boundaries, to-wit: Commencing 
at the mouth of Payette river, and following up 
said river mid-channel, to the mouth of the 
middle fork of said river, thence up the mid- 
channel of said fork to its source, thence in a 
direct east line to the summit of the Bitter Root 
mountains, thence along the summit of said 
mountains to the eastern line of Washington 
Territory; all that portion of the Territory of 
Washington lying south of the aforementioned 
boundaries, the ' same is hereby constituted and 
organized into a separate county to be known 
and called Boise; that said territory shall com- 
pose a county for civil and military purposes, 
and shall be under the same laws, rules, regula- 
tions and restrictions as all other counties in 
the territory of Washington, and entitled to 
elect the same officers as all other counties are 
entitled to elect. 

Sec. 2. The county seat of said county be, and 
the same hereby is temporarily located at the 
mouth of Elk Creek, on Moore's Creek. 

"Sec. 3. The following named persons are 
hereby appointed officers of said county, viz: 
John C. Smith, Dr. Noble and Frank Moore, 
County Commissioners; » — — Gilbert, Pro- 
bate Judge; David Mulford, Sheriff; David Al- 
derson, County Treasurer; A. D. Saunders, Aud- 
itor; Wm. Baird, J. M. Murphy, Dr. Swan, Jus- 
tices of the Peace; James Warren, Coroner, who 
shall hold their respective offices until the next 



SKAMANIA COUNTY 167 

annual election, or until their successors are 
elected and qualified, before entering upon the 
discharge of the duties of their offices they shall 
comply with all existing laws relating to quali- 
fying by giving bond and taking an official oath. 
Said bonds may be approved by the persons 
named county commissioners, or a majority of 
them, and the several persons named herein as 
officers may administer the oath of office to each 
other. 

"Sec. 4. All vacancies which may occur by 
the non-acceptance, death, removal or resignation 
of any of the persons above named, may be 
filled by the board of county commissioners, and 
they may also appoint such other officers as 
may be required for said county, to hold their 
offices until the next general election, and until 
their successors are elected or appointed and 
qualified. 

"Sec. 5. At the next general election the 
qualified voters of said county shall elect their 
county commissioners, and all other county offi- 
cers in the same manner as is by law prescribed 
for other counties. 

"Sec. 6. Said County Commissioners, when 
elected, as in the preceding section provided, 
shall hold their respective offices, one for one 
year, one for two years, and one for three years, 
as shall, at their first meeting after election, be 
determined by lot. 

Sec. 7. The persons appointed county com- 
missioners may, at any time after the passage 



168 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

of this act, and before the day appointed for 
the next general election, upon posting notices 
signed by a majority of them, ten days prior to 
the time appointed, hold a meeting of the board 
of county commissioners at which they may 
transact any business that may be done at a 
regular meeting of the board. 

"Sec. 8. This act to take effect and be in 
force from and after its passage. 

"Sec. 9. All acts and parts inconsistent here- 
with are hereby repealed. 

"Passed January 12th, 1863." 

The following subsequent act is self-explan- 
atory : 

"An Act to Amend an Act Entitled 'An Act Cre- 
ating and Organizing the County of Nez 
Perce." 

"Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislative 
Assembly of the Territory of Washington : That 
the boundaries of Nez Perce County shall be as 
follows: Beginning mid-channel of the Snake 
river at a point opposite the mouth of the Al- 
powai Creek, thence due north to the divide be- 
tween the Palouse and Snake river; thence fol- 
lowing said divide in an easterly direction to a 
point due north of the forks of Clearwater, 
thence due south to the forks of Clearwater ; 
then following South Fork to Lo Lo Creek, 
thence with the southern boundary of Shoshone 
County to the summit of the Bitter Root moun- 
tains, thence south, following the main divide 



SKAMANIA COUNTY 169 

between the waters of Salmon Fork of the 
Clearwater to Snake River, thence following 
mid-channel of said river to the place of be- 
ginning. 

"Sec. 2. All acts or parts of acts conflicting 
with the foregoing be, and the same are hereby 
repealed. 

"Sec. 3. This act to take effect and be in 
force from and after its passage. 

"Passed January 21st, 1863." 

"An Act to Create and Organize the County of 
Shoshone" 

"Sec. 1. Specifies the territory and its boun- 
daries constituting the county. 

"Sec. 2. Shall compose a county for civil and 
military purposes. Under the same laws, etc., 
as all other counties. Entitled to elect officers. 
Proviso. 

"Sec. 3. Precincts, how to be established. 
Judges and officers of elections. 

"Sec. 4. Election of county officers, when. 
Laws of territory applicable. 

"Sec. 5. Under the jurisdiction of Walla 
Walla until election. Annexed to Walla Walla 
for judicial purposes. 

"Sec. 6. To take effect, when. 

"Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the legislative as- 
sembly of Washington Territory, That all that 
portion of the Territory of Washington embraced 
within the following boundaries, to-wit: Com- 
mencing at the mouth of the Clearwater river, 



170 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

thence due east to the 115th degree of west lon- 
gitude, thence south to the 46th degree parallel 
of latitude ; thence along said 46th degree parallel 
to the summit of the Rocky Mountains; thence 
along the line summit of said mountains to the 
42nd degree parallel of latitude; thence west 
along said 42nd degree parallel, to its intersection 
with the boundary between the State of Oregon 
and the Territory of Washington, thence north 
along said boundary, to the point of its inter- 
section with the Snake River, thence down mid- 
channel of said river, to the place of beginning; 
the same is hereby constituted a separate county, 
to be called Shoshone County. 

"Sec. 2. All that territory embraced within 
said boundaries as conforming to the provisions 
of this act, shall compose a county for civil and 
military purposes, and shall be under the same 
laws, rules, restrictions and regulations as all 
other counties in this Territory, and entitled to 
elect the same county officers as other counties 
are entitled to elect; Provided, nevertheless, that 
until the organization of said county by the 
election of proper county officers, the territory 
hereinbefore described shall be annexed to and 
form part of the county of Walla Walla. 

"Sec. 3. And for the purpose of carrying the 
foregoing provisions into effect, it shall be law- 
ful for the county commissioners of the county 
of Walla Walla, at the next May term (1861) 
on the petition of ten or more legal voters resid- 
ing within the county bounded and described in 



SKAMANIA COUNTY 171 

Section 1st, of this Act, to establish such pre- 
cincts as may be deemed necessary in the terri- 
tory now sought to be organized into said Sho- 
shone county, and to appoint judges and officers 
competent to conduct the election. 

"Sec. 4. The legal voters of the territory em- 
braced in the boundaries of said proposed county 
shall, at the next general election, elect all offi- 
cers to which by law they are entitled to elect, 
and the provisions of law now in force in the 
Territory of Washington in regard to the mode 
and manner of conducting elections, shall be 
applicable to any election held in the said terri- 
tory hereinbefore described. 

"Sec. 5. That until the said county officers 
shall be so elected and qualified, according to 
law, the territory described in said Section 1, 
shall be annexed to and be considered under the 
jurisdiction of the county of Walla Walla, and 
for judicial purposes, said county of Shoshone, 
when organized, shall be and is hereby annexed 
to said county of Walla Walla. 

"Sec. 6. This act to take effect and be in 
force from and after the qualification of such 
officers as may be elected at the general election 
of 1861, pursuant to the foregoing provisions. 

"Passed January 9th, 1861. — Lyman Shaffer, 
Speaker House of Representatives; Paul K. 
Hubbs, President of the Council." 

Shoshone County was created by an act of 
the Washington Territorial legislature, approved 
January 9th, 1861. Said act being amended by 



172 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

an act passed December 21st of the same year. 
The latter act was entitled: 

"An Act Establishing and Defining the Boun- 
daries of Shoshone County." 

The latter act was intended to reconcile 
some of the incongruities of the former. Today, 
these acts are of interest only as they show the 
almost total lack of information, on the part of 
the members, of the topography of the county. 

I give the acts as they passed, and were 
approved, believing that they will be of interest 
in the future, for the old legislative landmarks 
of a new country are always of interest. 

"An Act Establishing and Defining the Boun- 
daries of Shoshone County." 

''Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Legislative As- 
sembly of the Territory of Washington, That 
the boundaries of Shoshone county shall be as 
follows, to-wit: Beginning at the mouth of the 
South Pork of the Clearwater; thence south with 
said river to the Lo Lo Fork of the same ; thence 
east with said Lo Lo stream, in an eastern direc- 
tion to the summit of the Bitter Root moun- 
tains; thence north to the main divide between 
the Palouse river and the North Fork of the 
Clearwater; thence in a western direction with 
said main divide to a point from which, running 
due south, would strike the mouth of the South 
Fork of the Clearwater, to the place of begin- 
ning. 



SKAMANIA COUNTY 173 

"Passed December 21st, 1861. — Jas. Leo Fer- 
guson, Speaker of the House of Representatives; 
A. R. Burbank, President of the Council.'' 

The second session of the Legislative Assem- 
bly of the Territory of Idaho passed an Act to 
establish a common school system for the terri- 
tory. 

The following is a copy of Sections 1, 2 
and 3 of Article I. of said act (Session Laws 
Second Session, pp. 377-8) : 

"An Act to Establish a Common School System 
for the Territory of Idaho. 

"Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of 
the Territory of Idaho, as follows: 

"Article I. 

"Sec. 1. That the principal of all moneys 
accruing to this territory, from the sale of any 
land heretofore given, or which may hereafter 
be given, by the congress of the United States 
for school purposes, together with any moneys 
that, by legacy or otherwise, may be appropriated 
to the general school fund, shall constitute an 
irreducible fund, the interest accruing from 
which shall be annually divided among all the 
school districts in the territory, proportionately 
to the number of children in each, between the 
ages of four and twenty-one years, for the pur- 
pose of common schools in said districts, and fov 
no other purpose whatever. 

"Sec. 2. For the purpose of establishing and 



174 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

maintaining common schools, it shall be the duty 
of the county commissioners of each county to 
set apart, annually, five per cent of all moneys 
paid into the county treasury, received as taxes 
upon the property contained in each county; and 
the said money so appropriated shall be paid 
over to the county treasurer, to be appropriated 
for the support of common schools in the sev- 
eral school districts, to be drawn in the manner 
hereinbefore prescribed. 

"Sec. 3. For the further support of common 
schools, there shall be set apart by the county 
treasurer, all moneys arising from fines for a 
breach of any of the penal laws of this territory, 
if not otherwise appropriated by law. Such 
money shall be paid into the county treasury, 
and be added to the yearly school fund raised 
by tax in each county, and divided in the same 
manner." 

In addition to these provisions for the main- 
tenance of common schools, the same session 
passed an act to levy a tax of one per cent of 
the gross proceeds of toll-roads, bridges and fer- 
ries, to constitute a general fund. 

At the time these measures were enacted, 
there were few school children in the Territory, 
but the big hearted mountain men who enacted 
these statutes did not propose to have their 
education neglected. The spirit manifested by 
the members of that early session has been fos- 
tered by each succeeding one, and of the thous- 
ands of children who have been born and reared 



SKAMANIA COUNTY 175 

in Idaho — with the exception of the Indian chil- 
dren — it is doubtful if there is a single instance 
where an Idaho child has grown to womanhood 
or manhood without being able to read and 
write. 

School houses and churches were early ad- 
juncts of civilization in all our western territor- 
ies, and the tax-payers of Idaho have always 
cheerfully contributed to the establishment and 
maintenance of public schools. 

The importance of the levy of one per cent 
on the gross proceeds of toll-roads, bridges and 
ferries, for school purposes, will be more com- 
pletely appreciated after reading the following 
lists of franchises granted by the second ses- 
sion, 1864: 

"An Act to Establish a Wagon Road from Elk 
City, Nez Perce County, to the Western 
Boundary of Montana Territory. 

"Sec. 1. That Thomas Kirkpatrick, Alonzo 
Leland, James Tufts, S. S. Slater, John Creigh- 
ton and George Zeigle, their heirs and assigns, 
are hereby granted the exclusive right and privi- 
lege to establish and maintain a toll-road from 
Elk City, Nez Perce County, along the practi- 
cable route, eastward to the western line of 
Montana Territory. 

"Sec. 2. The said parties shall have the right 
to charge and collect toll on each twenty miles of 
said road so soon as completed, at the following 
rates, in gold or silver coin or its equivalent : 



176 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

For each wagon with two animals $2.00 

For each additional team of two animals.... .75 

For each horse or mule, packed 75 

For each loose horse or mule 50 

For each loose cattle, each .25 

For each sheep or hog, each 10 

"Approved December 22nd, 1864." 



"AN ACT 



"To authorize David Watson, David McCullum 
and Asa Moore to establish a bridge across Boise 
River." 

"AN ACT 
*'To authorize J. B. McLaughlin, John Duvall, 
and Jonathan Keeney to establish a Ferry on 
Snake River in Boise County." 

"AN ACT 
"To authorize Charles DeLanine, A. George 
and associates to establish and maintain a toll- 
road from Placerville to Pioneer City, in Boise 
County." 

"AN ACT 
"To authorize J. L. Roberts, and others, to es- 
tablish and maintain a Ferry on Kootenai River, 
in Idaho Territory." 

"AN ACT 
"To authorize Charles H. Campfield, and his 
associates to establish a Ferry across the Pend 



SKAMANIA COUNTY 177 

d'Oreille river, or Clark's Fork of the Columbia 
river." (Approved December 22nd, 1864). 

"AN ACT 
"Authorizing John W. Heillin to establish a 
ferry on the Spokane river." 

This ferry was to be located at, or near, a 
point known as the "Indian Crossing." The act 
provided for the following rates of toll, or fer- 
riage : 

For each wagon and two animals $2.00 

For each additional span of horses or 

yoke of oxen 1.00 

For each man and horse 1.50 

For each pack animal 1.00 

For each loose animal other than sheep 

or hogs .25 

For each sheep or hog .10 

For each footman 50 

Approved December 22nd, 1864. 



"AN ACT 

"Authorizing Peter Sholl to maintain a toll- 
bridge across Clearwater river in Nez Perce 
County, on the road from Lewiston to Elk City. 

"Approved December 22nd, 1864." 

"AN ACT 
"Authorizing Leonard Guion and his associates 
to establish a Bridge and Ferry on Pack River. 
"Approved December 22nd, 1864." 

12 E. H. I. 



178 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

"AN ACT 
" Supplemental to an Act to establish and main- 
tain a Toll-Road from Clearwater to Elk City. 
"Approved December 22nd, 1864." 

"AN ACT 

"To authorize R. A. Eddy, E. L. Bonner and 
John W. Walton to establish and maintain a 
Ferry across the Kootenai River at a point 
known as Bonner's Ferry, or 'Chulintah.' 

"Approved December 22nd, 1864." 

"AN ACT 

"To authorize S. A. Woodward and L. P. 
Brown to construct and maintain a Toll-trail 
from Brown's Mountain House, in Nez Perce 
County, to Florence, in Idaho County. 

"Approved December 17, 1864." 

"AN ACT 

"To incorporate the Oneida Road, Bridge and 
Ferry Company, with capital stock of 'thirty 
Thousand Dollars, which may be increased to 
Fifty Thousand. 

"Approved December 10, 1864." 

"AN ACT 

"To authorize Martin Newcomb to construct 
and maintain a ferry across the Kootenai river 
at a point four miles above Bonner's Ferry. The 
territory attached to Nez Perce County for ju- 
dicial purposes. 

"Approved December 20, 1864." 



SKAMANIA COUNTY 179 

"AN ACT 
"To authorize Julius Newburg to construct and 
maintain a Bridge in Ada County (at Boise). 
"Approved December 22nd, 1864." 
The laws enacted and the resolutions adopt- 
ed by the second session of the Idaho legislature 
were generally approved by the people, and the 
members who enacted them were undoubtedly 
impelled by upright motives. 

The session adjourned on the 23rd day of 
December, 1864, after a full session of forty 
days. 



CHAPTER XI. 

EARLY EVENTS/ 

A COMPANY of volunteers under the leader- 
ship of Jeff Standifer, during the early 
months of 1863, crossed Snake river at Washoe 
Ferry, to levy reprisals on a band of Piute In- 
dians, who, having raided lower Boise and Pay- 
ette Valleys, had returned with their plunder to 
the Malheur Valley. A battle ensued with the 
result that all the Indians were killed with the 
exception of one squaw and two boys, aged 
approximately six and twelve years. After the 
firing ceased, they were discovered and brought 
back with the returning party. The squaw was 
given employment by Ira Worden, a restau- 
rant keeper in Centerville, and the older boy 
was given a home by the writer, and was named 
Dick. 

The smaller boy was adopted by John Kelly, 
the violinist, who had a little gray suit, repre- 
senting a Confederate uniform, made for him. 
When first captured the child was as wild as a 
young coyote. With a well knit frame and jet- 
black eyes which fairly sparkled, his looks pro- 
claimed him what he was, a full-blooded abor- 
igine. 



EARLY EVENTS 181 

Kelly at once became both father and mother 
to the little waif. He kept him in his presence 
continually, and began at once a course of phys- 
ical training to fit the boy for the future which 
he had conceived for him. In a few months he 
had developed into a contortionist of no mean 
ability, and nightly occupied a place with his 
adopted father, giving occasional exhibitions to 
vary the performance, thus adding interest to 
the attraction. The boy eventually, either from 
inherent talent, or from having no other asso- 
ciate than Kelly, developed wonderful skill as a 
violinist. When eighteen years old he equalled 
his instructor, while on a visit to Ireland 
with his inseparable companion, he was taken 
with a congestive chill and died. Kelly had no 
children of his own, and while he related to the 
writer the story of the boy's life and death, his 
furrowed face was deluged with tears. 

Wagon roads, from Boise City to Bannock, 
were early constructed, and from Horseshoe 
Bend on the Payette river to Placerville, thence 
to other towns. This was the shortest and best 
route from Umatilla to Walla Walla. Conse- 
quently most of the supplies distributed in the 
Basin came over that road. After these wagon- 
roads were completed, stage-lines were quickly 
started, and big Concord coaches, with four or 
six horses attached, arrived and departed daily, 
carrying passengers from each of the towns. 
These stages also carried the mail and express 
and other things, including an important indi- 



182 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

vidual occupying an outside seat next to the 
driver, and at all times carrying across his knees 
a short, double-barreled shot-gun of large cali- 
ber, heavily loaded with buck-shot. 

These men were employed by the express 
company, and one of them accompanied every 
coach which carried treasure. Owing to the 
expense of such precautions, and the losses which 
at time occurred, the charges made by the ex- 
press company for the transfer of treasure were 
so heavy that the miners, packers and teamsters 
usually devised means of their own to accomplish 
the transfer. 

A favorite ruse was to remove part of the 
filling of an aparejo and drop a sack of gold 
dust into each side of it; thus each mule would 
carry one hundred ounces of dust on a side with- 
out attracting attention. Two hundred ounces of 
gold dust, worth sixteen dollars an ounce, was 
the equivalent of $3,200.00. The larger trains of 
forty or fifty mules were selected, on account of 
the number of packers employed, all of whom 
being heavily armed, made an efficient guard. 
There is no record of highwaymen capturing 
treasure shipped in this manner. Sometimes 
large freight wagons were loaded with dry hides 
from the slaughter houses and bags of gold were 
stored underneath the skins. Shipments made in 
the foregoing manner were for safety, and 
necessarily were sub rosa, hence no record of 
their value was kept. Consequently all estimates 
of the gold output of the mines of the Boise 



EARLY EVENTS 183 

Basin district, during the time of their greatest 
prosperity, are largely based upon conjecture. 

In those days the nation was in the throes 
of civil war, and, though the infant territory 
sent no troops to battle for the flag, her moun- 
tain streams gave up their hoarded wealth when 
gold was needed most. Thus, all thoughtless of 
the good they did, her toiling miners, far re- 
moved from battle smoke and shrieking shell, 
did well their part. There is grim humor in the 
thought that during the darkest days of the 
rebellion, when to be a Union man in Boise 
Basin meant danger, sometimes death, yet the 
energies of Union men and Secessionists alike 
were directed to amassing gold, which was sent 
to the United States mints, and became the basis 
of credit which enabled the nation to maintain 
its integrity and carry on the war to a suc- 
cessful conclusion. 

In those days partisan feeling ran high; 
political parties then, as now, Democrats and 
Republicans, maintained their organizations. 
But the issue on which they divided was not 
tariff nor free coinage of silver, but simply 
Union versus Dis-union. While there were many 
Democrats in Idaho who were as loyal to the 
flag as any Republican, they were seldom in 
evidence, for they soon discovered that silence, 
on political questions, was conducive to long- 
evity. There were also many civil, quiet south- 
ern gentlemen whose sympathies were with the 
Confederacy, but their conservatism and respect 



184 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

for law and order made them unpopular in party 
caucuses and conventions, which were largely 
controlled by the lawless element. It was notic- 
able in those days that the most violent and bit- 
ter Secessionists were not the southern men 
whose homes were being overrun and property 
confiscated by the Union armies, but northern 
copperheads, or barroom politicians. 

E. D. Holbrook, who was elected Territorial 
Delegate to Congress in 1864 and again in 1866, 
was a fitting representative of the ruling class. 
Born in Elgin, Ohio, and educated in the public 
schools of that state, his political preferment 
was based on his violent hatred of the American 
flag, and his desire to perpetually enslave the 
African race. He was an able lawyer, a fluent 
and logical speaker, and had he lived even a 
quarter of a century later, would doubtless have 
been a valuable citizen, but as conditions were 
then, his influence did much to foster lawlessness. 

His highly strung nervous system could not 
endure the many kinds of stimulants sold by 
his constituents; he simply went wrong, like 
many others, from the same or similar cause, 
and finally, posing as a gun-fighter, his life went 
out in blood — Charlie Douglas, a gambler and 
one-time friend, being a quicker or better shot. 

There was no railroad across the continent 
in those days, and no telegraph lines in Idaho. 
Hence news of events transpiring in the outside 
world was slow in reaching us. Our main de- 
pendence was the Sacramento Union, a daily 



EARLY EVENTS 185 

newspaper published in Sacramento, California, 
and usually it did not reach us until about two 
weeks after its publication. When we consider 
that almost every American citizen in the min- 
ing camps had friends or relatives in some one 
of the armies in the field, engaged in the fearful 
contest then being waged, it can be understood 
how anxiously the stage bringing these papers 
was awaited — and how quickly they were sold 
for a dollar each. There was never copies enough 
to supply the demand, and groups would form 
around the fortunate ones and listen with bated 
breath, while he read the story of, mayhap, the 
Battle of the Wilderness, of Gettysburg, or Look- 
out Mountain. It was noticeable, on such occas- 
ions, that, if the narrative was of a rebel victory, 
the air was at once rent with cheers for Jeff 
Davis, and the barrooms were soon filled with 
jubilant men, clamoring for "booze," and pre- 
dicting the speedy recognition of the Southern 
Confederacy by foreign nations. On the con- 
trary, if the Union army was victorious, the 
cheers were for Abe Lincoln, or some favorite 
Union general; then they usually gravitated, like 
the others, to some saloon and teased their op- 
ponents by sandwiching in between drinks, such 
songs as "We'll Rally Round the Flag, Boys," or 
"My Country, Tis of Thee, Sweet Land of Lib- 
erty, of Thee I Sing." On such occasions the 
partisans of the cause that had suffered defeat 
were usually discreet enough to keep out of 
sight of the roisterers; but not infrequently hos- 



186 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

tilities were precipitated, the results of which 
were communicated to the patrons of the eating 
houses the following morning by the waiters, in 
the stereo typed phrase, "A man for breakfast 
this morning,' ' or men, as the case might be, 
naming the place or places, almost invariably a 
saloon. 

It was understood in early mining days that 
a camp was not fully equipped until a graveyard 
was started, and the number of sodless mounds 
that it contained within a given time was con- 
sidered an index of the life of the place. It is 
a strange analogy that life should mean death. 
Yet it was true. For the life or the liveliness of 
such places was guaged by the number of saloons, 
dance halls, etc., and their number determined 
the amount of liquor sold and that was, almost 
invariably, what regulated the growth of the 
cemeteries. In older countries the process is 
generally slow, but in mining camps, especially 
in war-times, strong drink such as was sold over 
the bars aroused the passions of men and led to 
violence, often death. 

Idaho City easily led the other camps in the 
number of interments. Much has been said and 
written of the formulas used in the manufacture 
of a large part of the whiskey sold in mining 
towns and at the road-houses leading thereto, 
which, if true, may account for some of the 
violence it engendered. An anecdote is related 
of a man who was the keeper of a house of 
entertainment on the road leading from The 



EARLY EVENTS 187 

Dalles, Oregon, to the Canyon City mines. It is 
stated that being dissatisfied with the prices 
charged by the Portland liquor dealers, he con- 
cluded to manufacture his own whiskey, and 
after trying numerous formulas, he made a brew 
containing several ingredients, among them al- 
cohol, plug tobacco, strychnia and prune juice. 
As soon as the mixture had settled he tried it 
on the first man who came along the road — a Jew 
peddler, carrying his little stock of merchandise 
on his back — with the result that he stole his 
own pack and hid it in the willows up the creek. 
The next customer was a sheep-herder, who, 
after taking his first drink, went out in front of 
the house, and throwing his hat in the air, gave 
a yell of delight which was ample evidence of 
the quality of the "goods." So the liquor was at 
once named "Sheep-herder's Delight." It mat- 
tered not, however, what the quality happened 
to be, it all went, for, while there were a few 
who had epicurean tastes, the average tippler 
seemed to have the same opinion as the Irishman 
who, when told that a certain blend of whiskey 
was bad, indignantly exclaimed, "Bad! There 
is no bad whiskey; some is a little better than 
others, but there is none bad." 

While history was being made in the Basin, 
and its hitherto silent glades were being trans- 
formed into busy hives of industry, each sending 
forth a glittering stream of gold, the march of 
progress was no less apparent in the valleys 
adjacent thereto — both Boise and Payette. The 



188 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

latter awakened into life earlier than the former, 
because the road leading from Walla Walla and 
Umatilla landing followed up the Payette river 
from near its confluence with the Snake to 
Horseshoe Bend, where it diverged up Shafer 
Creek, thence to Placerville. Prior to the con- 
struction of the Shafer Creek road, the travel 
continued on up the river to "Jack-ass Gulch" 
and Porter Creek, up both of which were trails 
leading to Placerville and the other camps. 

It was over ' these two trails, before the 
wagon roads were completed, that most of the 
influx of travel found its way to the mines. And 
during that time the population almost, if not 
quite, reached its highest limits. Many thous- 
ands of people were added after the roads were 
built, but it must be conceded that nearly as 
many took their departure before this time, 
some of them being satisfied with what they had 
accumulated, while others, failing to obtain 
claims, sought different fields. A few left the 
country for the country's good — and their own 
safety. 

With hundreds of men passing over the 
Payette Valley road, road-houses were quickly 
provided. Of these, Shafer's, Horseshoe Bend, 
Burner's Ranch, now called Marsh, the Black 
House, Payette Ranch, Thompson's Ranch, and 
the "Bug Hay Press," were noted places during 
the summer of 1863. They all served meals 
consisting usually of bread and meat, generally 
bacon, with brown bread and black coffee, all 



EARLY EVENTS 189 

for the nominal sum of one dollar each. These 
houses were invariably kept by unmarried men, 
and most of them were orderly and well con- 
ducted. 

When we consider the difficulty experienced 
in obtaining even the ordinary necessities of life, 
it is marvelous how they succeeded as well as 
they did. 

Some stretches of the bottom land which the 
Payette road traversed was covered with alkali, 
which, when disturbed by passing horsemen or 
footmen rose in clouds of dust, filling the eyes, 
nostrils and ears of the traveler, causing an 
excessive thirst, which, in many instances, noth- 
ing but some kind of alcoholic beverage seemed to 
assuage, and even that relief was a temporary 
one, hardly lasting from one house to another^ 
But the proprietors, with few exceptions, were 
familiar with the malady, and were prepared to 
promptly relieve the sufferings of all comers. 
These prescriptions were administered for "two 
bits," or twenty-five cents each. 

During the summer of 1863 large wagon 
trains of emigrants from Missouri and Arkansas 
arrived in Idaho. They consisted of entire fam- 
ilies of men, women and children, and would 
have been a desirable acquisition to the popula- 
tion of any country. They had abandoned their 
former homes to escape the terrors of guerrilla 
warfare, which was epidemic in those states at 
that time. As a rule they brought with them 
good teams and wagons and such household 



190 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

goods as were portable. Their advent marked 
the arrival of the first feather-beds into the 
territory. They also brought a new element 
into the country — an element which made the 
mountains look more attractive. It was imme- 
diately noted by the young men that the rivers 
and the brooks which had heretofore gone silent- 
ly on their way, made sweet music as they 
traveled over their pebbly beds; the birds sang 
more sweetly; even the clouds which swept the 
summer skies bore laughter on their wings. 
The magic which wrought such marvelous 
changes was a bevy of girls. When the train 
of wagons on which they traveled reached Boise 
City and stopped on the main street to permit 
some of the families to purchase articles from 
the stores, the card games, billiard halls and 
saloons were quickly deserted, even the "bar- 
keep" and the "lookout" for the "faro" games, 
with their hair parted in the middle, were soon 
in the front row along the sidewalks, craning 
their necks to get a peep. "Goo-goo" eyes were 
seen on the Boise streets for the first time that 
day. Whether they were an importation from 
Missouri or Arkansas matters not — they did ef- 
fective work. Other trains quickly followed the 
first, and a camp was established on the river- 
bank near the outskirts of the town, where 
acquaintances were formed, and during the 
evenings which followed, sitting around their 
smouldering camp fires, plans for the future were 
made by the older people, while the girls and 



EARLY EVENTS 191 

their visitors from town formed groups of two 
beneath the blinking stars. Each mountain 
swain had wondrous tales to tell — of dreary 
days and nights alone. Of course they had never 
loved before, and never could again. 'Twas 
thus the stories ran, while mothers, argus-eyed, 
looked on. 

These fathers grim had guns; some had 
been tried at Wilson Creek, and others on the 
plains. So every vow made on that river bank 
was kept. There was dearth of wedding-gowns, 
dearth of wedding-bells; but "eyes spoke love 
to eyes that spoke again" and ere the slim young 
moon that first had listened to their sighs had 
grown to full, many a young bachelor had been 
bound in hymeneal ties, and was enjoying for 
the first time, since leaving home and mother, 
the comforts of a feather-bed. Of the marriages 
resulting from these speedy courtships, I have 
yet to learn of a divorce. Many of the immi- 
grants of that year located in Boise valley, 
while a few crossed the divide to Payette. Among 
the latter may be named the Flourneys, the 
Burges family, and others. 

All of these early settlers enacted a prom- 
inent and honorable part in the development of 
the then new territory. Many of their children 
are still residents of Idaho, and have reason to 
be proud of the record they inherited from their 
ancestors who, having crossed the continent 
during those turbulent days, devoted their lives 



192 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

to honest industry, and finally went to their 
rest respected and loved by all. 

For three years the market price for all 
kinds of farm produce, except hay, was never 
less than twenty-five cents a pound, and during 
that time, ten cents a pound for hay was the 
lowest price it reached in the mining towns. 
Hence the farmer shared with the miner and 
others the general prosperity. There was one 
embarrassment, however, which seriously ham- 
pered their operations. This was the loss of 
horses stolen by horse thieves, this loss falling 
most heavily on the settlers in the upper sections 
of the valleys, those nearest the mines, and in- 
creased, rather than diminished, for two years. 

To accommodate those who rode their own 
animals to the mines, and who had no place to 
keep them after their arrival, what were termed 
horse ranches were established in the valleys. 
The owners of these so-called ranches had an 
office and a corral in Placerville, or one of the 
other towns, where horses were received to be 
sent out to the ranch, where a pasturage charge 
of three dollars a month was made, and an 
agreement entered into that the animal, or 
animals, would be brought in and delivered to 
the owner when desired. The horse ranch con- 
sisted of a corral and a tent or cabin, to shelter 
the owner, or herder, to whom no financial 
responsibility could attach, since the land upon 
which they were located, and that upon which 
they ranged the horses and mules, belonged to 



EARLY EVENTS 193 

the public domain, but, in spite of this fact, 
thousands of animals were delivered into the 
care of these people. It is needless to say that 
only a small number of them were ever re- 
turned to the lawful owners. It is doubtful if 
such a harvest was ever reaped by horse thieves 
since America was discovered, because no such 
favorable conditions had heretofore existed in 
any country. 

Thousands of saddle and pack animals, many 
of them very valuable, were turned loose to 
range over the hills lying east, north and south 
of Horseshoe Bend. Thus the stock was entire- 
ly removed from their owners, and, for that 
matter, from anyone else who knew them, as 
it was impossible for the owners of the horse- 
ranches to familiarize themselves with such a 
diversity of brands, and, in fact, many were not 
branded at all. Horses or mules, reduced in 
flesh by a long trip made perhaps before feed 
had started in the spring, will, when turned loose 
on such bunch-grass as then grew on Payette 
hills and valleys, change so much in appearance 
in a short time that the owners frequently 
failed to recognize their animals. Hence the 
risk of driving off and appropriating this class 
of stock was not considered great, owing to the 
lax methods by which the laws were admin- 
istered, methods which had a tendency to make 
the business of stock stealing a favorite vocation 
among those who had received training along 
this line in other regions. 

13E.H. I. 



194 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

Three former citizens of New Mexico who 
had graduated in that territory as stage robbers, 
horse thieves and cattle rustlers, arrived on the 
river early in the spring of 1863, and after 
sizing up the situation, established headquarters 
in the Payette valley, near the entrance of the 
canyon, above where is now located the pros- 
perous town of Emmett. 

They built a strong log house and corral, 
which was planrfed for defense, should necessity 
arise, and named the place ' Ticket Corral," by 
which sobriquet it soon gained repute, the resi- 
dents thereof being known as the "Picket Cor- 
ral gang." After getting established, they pro- 
ceded to organize the business, one of their num- 
ber locating a ranch and building a cabin and 
corral across the river from Boise City, on the 
site of what is now South Boise. 

They were all fine specimens of physical 
manhood, good horsemen and companionable 
fellows, ready to relieve an unfortunate by 
sharing a blanket, or dividing with him, what 
might be their last dollar. Hence they soon ac- 
quired well merited popularity among men of 
of their class, which enabled them to manipulate 
the first Democratic nominating convention in 
Ada County, and ^secure the election of their 
choice for sheriff, a nomination on the Demo- 
cratic ticket being equivalent to an election in 
those days. At that time few men came to 
Idaho to engage in politics, hence the number 
who participated in the primaries and the nom- 



EARLY EVENTS 195 

inating convention was usually small. Aside 
from the few who had personal ends to gain, 
those who voted at the primaries did so in a 
desultory manner — accepting and depositing the 
ballots prepared for them by the agents of the 
night-riders. 

If some of those sturdy, honest farmers who 
crossed the plains from Missouri to settle in 
Boise or Payette valleys, and who rode, some- 
times many miles, to take part in an election, 
had been told of the manner in which the politi- 
cal machine was run in Ada and Boise counties 
in those days, they would have doubted the 
statement if made by their own fathers. 

The tickets were all voted, whether Repub- 
lican or Democratic, under the then territorial 
form of government, and carried no political 
significance other than they gave expression as 
to whether we were in favor of maintaining the 
Union. The real issue was not political — only 
in the sense applying to whether the lives and 
the property of the people within our borders 
should be protected. Yet, honest men, as was 
said, sometimes rode many miles to vote what 
they believed was the same ticket their fathers 
voted during the days of Andrew Jackson. 

These voters wanted to do , what they be- 
lieved was right. They believed they did right, 
hence they were right, and their hearts were in 
the right place. Unfortunately, the first sheriff 
they elected in Ada county — the first Monday 
in March, 1865 — was Dave Opdyke, who sub- 



196 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

sequently resigned his position for cause, and was 
afterward hanged, as was another sheriff in 
Bannock, in what is now Montana. The laws of 
men may be repealed or suspended, but the laws 
of God are eternally operative. It has been truly 
written "Those who live by the sword, die by it." 

One of the peculiar characteristics of the 
people in all frontier countries is their hatred of 
horse thieves, and their belief that nothing less 
than capital punishment is adequate to suppress 
them. This sentiment was no doubt prompted in 
Idaho by the well known fact that those who 
were entrusted with the enforcement of the 
law — the sheriff and his deputies — were nomin- 
ated and elected to their positions through the 
influence of the admirers of horse-flesh. I was 
once told by a former resident of Arkansas that 
"when a man was killed in his state, the authori- 
ties empaneled a jury, not for the purpose of 
determining whether the accused was guilty of 
killing the man, but to ascertain whether it had 
been a fair fight." If the latter was shown by 
the evidence, the verdict of the jury was "Bully 
for the boy with the glass eye." Yet these same 
men would hang a horse thief without compunc- 
tion. 

It is well known that Arkansas contributed 
generously to the population of Idaho during 
those years, and no doubt many of those who 
sat on the juries named, were among the number. 
It was a notorious fact that while many mur- 
ders were committed in Boise County during the 



EARLY EVENTS 197 

five years when its population was the greatest, 
not one of the men who committed them suffered 
the extreme penalty of the law. 

After the first stampede to the Basin was 
ended the business of the horse ranchers was 
practically at an end. Hence the professional 
horse-thieves were compelled to cover a wider 
field to make their operations profitable. They 
often extended their enterprises into Nevada and 
eastern Oregon and Washington, returning with 
their spoils to one of their home ranches — usu- 
ally on or near the Payette river. If the fruits 
of their depredations consisted of horses or 
mules, they were held until sold. But if pur- 
suit was feared, they were moved during the 
night to some other cache. The favorite place 
of concealment during such emergencies was the 
ranch across the river from Boise — now South 
Boise. 

On the occasion of such transfer the stock 
was driven across the hills to Dry Creek, thence 
to Crane's Gulch, and, following it down to the 
valley, a detour was made through some of the 
back streets of the city, so as to strike the river 
above the Davis ranch. Here the animals were 
driven in and made to swim across, where they 
were cared for by the man, or men, in charge of 
the ranch. 

Boise river in those days had but one chan- 
nel for a long distance above and below town, 
and the water was so deep as to preclude ford- 
ing, a ferry being maintained below town to 



198 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

transfer traffic, and as the trees and bushes 
along the bank obscured the view from one side 
to the other, horses, when over, were safe from 
discovery. 

Sometimes relentless persons would continue 
the chase into the city, and visiting the sheriff's 
office, would appeal to that officer for assistance, 
which was invariably promised. 

Whereupon, the weary riders would ask him 
and his deputies to take a drink, an invitation 
which would be considerately accepted, and the 
party would at once adjourn to the sheriff's own 
saloon, and in this social and friendly manner the 
incident would close. 

There is no record of more than one stolen 
horse being recovered by the owner during the 
three first years of the mining furore, and the 
incidents to that event, though attracting little 
attention at the time, were to be of widespread 
influence in the near future. 

The following synopsis will convey an idea 
of the peculiar conditions which existed in our 
frontier at that time, which was during the 
month of August, 1864: 

A man who was engaged in truck-gardening 
on one of the tributaries of the Payette river, 
after delivering a cargo of vegetables to the 
hotels and restaurants in Centerville, proceeded 
with his pack train down Grimes' Creek and 
camped for the night. Although the Basin was 
then nearly all covered with a growth of fine 
timber, at the place chosen for his camp there 



EARLY EVENTS 199 

was a large spot of open ground covered with 
good grass. He had but one packer, or assist- 
ant, with him, and after supper, before retiring, 
they caught and picketed their favorite saddle- 
horse within a short distance of where they 
spread their blankets. Fatigued as they were, 
and anticipating no danger to themselves or 
animals, they retired early, and were soon in a 
sound slumber, from which they awakened in 
the morning to find that in the night some one 
had slipped into the camp and stolen the picketed 
horse. Search was made during the following 
day which disclosed that two men, who were in 
Centerville during the previous day, and were 
noticed admiring the missing animal while it 
was standing hitched in the street, had disap- 
peared, and a party coming into Boise over the 
Shaffer Creek road had passed them during the 
forenoon and upon inquiry, were told that they 
were headed for Boise Valley. 

The pack-train was at once started for the 
home ranch, arriving there in the night after 
the farm hands had gone to bed. Arousing them, 
fresh horses were saddled, and accompanied by 
one man, the owner started for Boise City, where 
they arrived at eight o'clock the following morn- 
ing, having rested themselves and their horses 
two hours on the trail between Dry Creek and 
Crane's Gulch. A search of the feed corrals and 
livery stables was immediately made, with the 
result that, while no trace of the stolen horse 
was discovered, another one was found in the 



200 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

livery and feed stable which was owned by 
Opdyke, who was later elected sheriff. The ani- 
mal, a mare, had been stolen about two months 
before. She was claimed by a restaurant keeper 
named Gilkie, who said she had been given to 
him by John Kelly, the violinist. Everyone 
knowing Kelly knew he never stole a horse, as 
he was too lazy, too big and fat to go out on 
the range and catch one. They refused to sur- 
render the property, so the owner was obliged 
to secure the services of a lawyer to recover his 
horse. Fortunately, A. G. Cook, an attorney 
whom he had known in Lafayette, Oregon, had 
located in Boise a short time before, and he 
kindly volunteered to take the case and make no 
charge. He and John Deisenroth, a blacksmith 
owning a shop in town, qualified as bondsmen 
for the required amount; but notwithstanding 
the validity of the surety, which was unques- 
tioned, the justice of the peace before whom the 
case was brought, required the complainant to 
weigh out gold dust enough to pay the estimated 
costs before he would issue* the writ, the result 
being that it cost the owner seventy dollars, in- 
cluding a back stable bill which he was obliged 
to pay to recover the animal which everyone, 
including the justice and the sheriff, knew was 
his before any evidence was offered. 

This was the culmination of what might 
have been forseen — the breaking down of the 
barrier of loyalty to law and order which is an 
instance of all pastoral people. The evidence 



EARLY EVENTS 201 

was no longer lacking that the farmers and trav- 
eling public could expect no protection from the 
ordinary sources through which justice is admin- 
istered. 

The owner of the horse entered the court- 
room of that Boise City justice, little more than 
a boy in years and experience, but he came out 
when the case was decided and he had paid the 
costs, amounting to nearly the full value of the 
animal, a grim-visaged man. With no word to 
anyone, except to thank the two men who had 
gone on his bond, he and his helper led their 
horses down the street and stopped in front of 
the stable where a group of tin-horn gamblers 
and horse-thieves had preceded them from the 
court-room, announcing that he would like to 
make a speech to them before leaving. One of 
their number told him to "fire ahead" — meaning 
for him to begin — which he did, stating that he 
was an American citizen, that he recognized "no 
chiefs," and that he could catch any man who 
ever marked those prairies and that the next 
one who stole a horse from him would be "his 
Indian" — there would be no law-suit. Waiting 
a few moments for a reply and none coming, he 
mounted his saddle-horse and rode away, leading 
the recovered animal. 

Had the members of the gang who were 
present when the foregoing remarks were made 
been less confident of their power, and given 
more attention to the glint of the eyes and the 
set of the jaws of the man who uttered them, 



202 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO > 

they might have taken warning, but in a spirit 
of bravado, they resolved to teach the "ruta- 
baga peddler" to take a joke. 

A few nights later that part of the Payette 
Valley which lies above Jackass Creek, and is 
now called Jerusalem, was raided, and nine ani- 
mals stolen — five horses and four large mules. 
There were at that time four gardens, or minia- 
ture farms, being cultivated in that neighbor- 
hood and the stolen stock belonged to the owners 
of these gardens. These people had been "long- 
suffering and slow to wrath," but the recent ex- 
perience of one of their number in trying to 
obtain justice in a Boise court, had thoroughly 
aroused their fighting instincts. 

A posse of four men was organized, and 
after ascertaining that the thieves had started to 
the lower country with their booty, pursuit was 
begun. Well mounted and well armed, each 
riding a horse and leading another, these men, 
fewer in number than the pursued, took the 
Brown Lew trail — determined to recover what 
they had lost or lose their lives in the attempt. 

They were gone about three weeks when all 
returned, bringing with them the lost animals, 
jaded and worn almost to skin and bones. The 
story of that pursuit and the recovery of the 
stolen stock would add many thrilling pages to 
the history of those stirring days; but it has 
never been written, and it probably never will 
be, for the men who make the history of a new 
country are seldom historical writers. 



EARLY EVENTS 203 

It is known, however, that the recovery was 
made in Oregon, on the Grand Ronde river 
below the valley of that name; and also that 
the transfer was not a friendly one — but if any 
casulties occurred they were all on one side. 

On their return trip a stop was made at 
the road-house along their route, and open war 
was declared against horse-thieves and stage- 
robbers. 

A few days after their arrival home a meet- 
ing which included all the residents in their 
locality was held on Porter Creek, and while no 
permanent organization was effected, resolutions 
were unanimously adopted pledging themselves 
as follows: 

1st, to stand as a unit on all matters affect- 
ing the personal safety or the property rights of 
any individual resident. 

2nd, to pursue and capture, regardless of 
expense, all horse-thieves who thereafter appro- 
priated any horses, cattle or mules belonging to 
any individual resident or traveler passing 
through that section. Provided, that after the 
capture was made, the posse effecting it should 
administer such condign punishment as in their 
judgment the circumstances merited — always 
bearing in mind that farmers were not pre- 
pared to hold prisoners. 

A pronunciamento in accordance with these 
resolutions was promulgated, and in a few days 
news of the action which had been taken was 
widely disseminated, causing a meeting to be 



204 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

called in the "Block House" in the lower Payette 
Valley. The "Block House," so called because it 
was built of hewed logs, was two stories high, 
the upper story being in one room, or hall, made 
a suitable place to hold public gatherings; in 
fact, it was then the only suitable place in the 
valley. 

When the meeting assembled, it was called 
to order. The chairman, Henry Paddock, of the 
"Hay-press Ranch," stated that the object of the 
meeting was to devise and consider plans for 
the better protection of life and property — not 
alone that of the settlers, but those who traveled 
through the valley on the public highway. He 
enumerated the robberies that had occurred 
within the year and told of the futile efforts 
made to suppress lawlessness. He related the 
histories of other countries where the lawless 
and vicious classes had succeeded in gaining 
control of the sheriff's office, who, after his 
election, permitted similar conditions to exist 
until the people, driven by desperation, organized 
vigilance committees and proceeded to punish 
offenders according to their deserts. Citing San 
Francisco as an example, and referring to the 
action recently taken by the settlers living above 
Horseshoe Bend. 

After a long discussion in which the con- 
census of opinion favored the plan of organizing 
some kind of a committee of safety, it was fin- 
ally deemed best to adjourn the meeting for a 
week, in order that a conference might be had 



EARLY EVENTS 205 

with those who, as before stated, had already 
taken matters into their own hands. 

Accordingly a committee was appointed and 
instructed to visit all the residents in that re- 
gion with a view to forming an organization 
that would include all the law-abiding settlers 
in the Payette Valley — from Brainard Creek to 
the Snake. 

The committee carried out the instructions 
given to them so faithfully that on the second day 
after receiving them the people came together 
and were invited to co-operate in a movement 
having for its object the suppression of crime in 
the form of horse-stealing, murders, robberies, 
etc. As a result of the meeting, a committee 
consisting of two men was sent to meet the 
men who had already taken action, as explained 
above. One of the two men chosen to act as 
a representative in this matter was he who re- 
covered the horse in Boise, and who had also 
taken an active part in the Grand Xtonde affair. 

When the adjourned meeting at the Block 
House was again called to order, the gathering 
consisted of nearly every man in the valley liv- 
ing below the Berner ranch. There were prob- 
ably a score of absentees, a few of whom had 
families that they could not leave, and the others 
were so notoriously connected with the lawless 
organization that they did not have the audacity 
to attend — although they were aware that such 
a meeting was to be held. 

The man who had presided at the former 



206 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

meeting was named chairman, and after a secre- 
tary had been chosen the chairman announced 
that the meeting had been called for the purpose 
of organizing a committee of safety, or vigilance 
committee, and asked all present who had sug- 
gestions to make, to arise. Accordingly, several 
short speeches were made by men who had suf- 
fered losses, which were explained by the speak- 
ers. These discussions disclosed that the losses 
suffered by farmers and others were undoubtedly 
caused by residents of the valley, it having been 
conclusively shown that within a distance of 
fifty miles the occupants of no less than four 
ranches had no visible means of support other 
than that afforded by their dealings in horses 
and mules, and it was shown that their trans- 
actions in this line were conducted by preference 
in the night. These ranches each supported from 
two to five men, or about a dozen men all told, 
yet their organization was so perfect and their 
energy so untiring that up to the time this meet- 
ing was called they had kept the entire southern 
part of Idaho, outside the towns, terrorized. 

A motion having been made and adopted to 
this effect, a committee of three was appointed 
by the chair to draft a constitution and by-laws, 
and a recess was taken to enable the committee- 
men to prepare their report. 

The name finally chosen for the organization 
was the "Payette Vigilance Committee." Its 
existence was to be continued until the indus- 
tries of horse-stealing, highway robbery and the 
passing of "bogus" gold dust were suppressed. 



CHAPTER XII. 

BOGUS GOLD DUST AND OTHER THINGS. 

ALL ACCUSED persons were entitled to a 
trial by jury, composed of seven members, 
a majority of whom were permitted to render a 
verdict — which was final. Three forms of pun- 
ishment were adopted, as follows: 

1st. Banishment, in which case twenty-four 
hours were allowed for preparation. 

2nd. Horse-whipping, to be publicly admin- 
istered. 

3rd. Capital punishment. The meeting 
which perfected the foregoing organization was 
composed of earnest, determined men, most of 
whom attended because they realized that a 
crisis had been reached. They were not law- 
breakers, nor had they any intention of inter- 
fering with the execution of the laws; but as no 
effort was being made by those whose duties it 
was to enforce the law — the sheriff and his depu- 
ties — there seemed but one course open, and that 
they adopted. This was the first organization of 
its kind in south Idaho, and it met its require- 
ments to the entire satisfaction of its promoters. 
Within a few months the night-riders had all 
disappeared, doubtless having found other cli- 



208 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

mates more congenial, and within one year the 
reputation of Payette valley was restored to what 
it is today, no stable need be locked. This refor- 
mation was not brought about, however, without 
strenuous and persistent effort. It must not be 
thought that those daring and desperate men 
who had for an ally the sheriff of the county, 
would at once surrender the prestige they had 
gained. The first action taken by the vigilance 
committee after perfecting its organization was 
to empanel a jury, by whom testimony was tak- 
en, relating to the operations of a band of coun- 
terfeiters, who made a specialty of "bogus" gold 
dust, it having been shown that an extensive or- 
ganization existed, with headquarters for Idaho 
at Placerville and with agents in various places, 
and especially in the valley settlements. In the 
last places mentioned, the population was largely 
made up from immigrants who had recently 
crossed the plains. 

The possibilities of this unlawful traffic will 
be better understood when it is explained that 
the medium of exchange at that time was almost 
invariably gold dust, or that which passed for 
gold dust ; and since the recent arrivals were nec- 
essarily inexperienced in handling this new 
medium of exchange and barter, they were easily 
defrauded. 

The bogus article most in circulation was 
manufactured in San Francisco by simply cutting 
bars of lead into small particles which resembled 
gold dust in size; these were then galvanized 



BOGUS GOLD DUST 209 

with gold by means of a special process, and so 
perfect was the deception that nitric acid, as 
usually applied, would not reveal the fraud. 
But if the so-called gold dust was allowed to 
remain in the acid for a longer time than was 
usual, discovery would follow, for in the process 
of galvanization defects too small to be noticed 
by the naked eye would inevitably be searched 
out and revealed by the acid. This bogus dust 
had one fatal defect which could not be over- 
come and which made its detection easy by both 
old timers and by close observers; the angles 
were too perfect; while the size of the granules 
might and did vary, the general contour was 
always the same, which is never true of placer 
gold — it being invariably irregular in form. 
Large quantities of the counterfeit article were 
"worked off" by mixing it with genuine gold dust 
and then using the mixture for the payment of 
freight bills to packers and teamsters engaged in 
hauling supplies. Local agents adopted various 
expedients. Along the Payette valley road one 
method which usually proved successful was for 
the agent to ride up to a road-house or to a place 
where supplies were sold and tell the unsuspect- 
ing proprietor that he wanted to leave a deposit 
of dust for some one, naming the individual. 

Then, as now, a deposit was seldom refused 
and as deposits are now merged into, and become 
a part of the funds of the individual or bank re- 
ceiving them, so were they then, the difference 
being that vaults and safes are now used, while 

14 E. H. I. 



210 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

in those days a yeast powder can was the usual 
depository. The horseman would be invited to 
alight, and the proprietor, after weighing the 
deposit, would dump it into the can where he 
kept his own dust, and where it was mixed and 
became a part of the whole. Often weeks 
elapsed before the dust was claimed, during 
which time, by the process of adding and with- 
drawing in the regular course of business, but 
little if any of the dust which was deposited 
originally remained, and the claimant received 
good dust, or nearly so, for a deposit of gal- 
vanized lead. The inquiry made by the jury 
led to the disclosure that a man named Conklin 
who made his headquarters with the Pickett 
Corral gang, was the local, or Payette agent of 
the bogus dust syndicate and it was ordered that 
he be given twenty-four hours to leave the coun- 
try. A committee of one was appointed to serve 
on him a written notice to that effect. Accord- 
ingly, on the following day, an escort of five 
men were detailed to accompany him. It was 
arranged that they should assemble at 12 o'clock 
noon at a road house located where the town of 
Emmett now stands, and from there proceed in 
a body to Pickett Corral, where it was expected 
they would find the individual sought. After the 
adjournment the man who was to serve the 
notice proceeded to the rendezvous, arriving there 
at 2 o'clock a. m. 

After a few attempts he succeeded in arous- 
ing the sleepy landlord, who assigned him to a 



BOGUS GOLD DUST 211 

well-furnished room containing a comfortable 
feather-bed. Retiring immediately, he was soon 
wrapped in a sound, refreshing sleep. The next 
morning after breakfast he entered the lounging 
room, where he found several of the Pickett Cor- 
ral gang, one of the number being the bogus gold 
dust operator upon whom he was authorized to 
serve notice to leave the country. 

They had probably come down to the road- 
house, which was on the main traveled route to 
Placerville, in order to obtain news, if possible, 
of the decision reached at the meeting held the 
previous night at the Block House. Their leader 
having arrived, they held a protracted out-door 
discussion among themselves. Finally, one of the 
men left the others and entered the room where 
the representative of the vigilance committee was 
standing, and asked him to accompany him out- 
side. He at once complied with the request, 
slipping his two Colt's revolvers forward on the 
belt, where they could be quickly reached, he 
walked out into the midst of the party of des- 
peradoes, which now consisted of four men. They 
all started towards a small corral, and he went 
with them. 

Nothing was said until they were inside the 
enclosure. This had been built by digging a 
two-foot trench around the area it was designed 
to enclose; logs of about twelve inches in dia- 
meter and eight feet long were set closely to- 
gether on their ends therein. The interview that 
followed was a stormy one. The move to get 



212 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

him out of sight of the house was understood by 
the committee's agent — another murder was to 
be committed, and no witnesses were to be pres- 
ent, save the friends and associates of the mur- 
derer — but they had signally failed to correctly 
"size up" their prospective victim, who, upon 
entering the inclosure, immediately backed into 
a corner against the logs facing his enemies, and 
said "Well, show your colors; I am no immi- 
grant, I will make the biggest funeral ever held 
in this valley. I know you; I understand what 
this means. You are here to murder me, but I 
don't think you can do it." The men were dumb- 
founded; they did not expect such a reception, 
and knowing that a movement on their part to 
draw a weapon meant death to at least one, and 
possibly to all, they hesitated to open the fracas 
and finally weakened. A circumstance had hap- 
pened in La Grande a short time before, which 
perhaps had a deterring influence in this case. 
An Irishman, enroute from Boise to Portland, 
who had considerable gold with him, stopped off 
the stage in La Grande, Oregon, intending to 
remain over one day to meet some friends. He 
was soon marked for a victim by the light-fin- 
ered gentlemen of suave manners who hang 
around frontier towns, and after he had taken 
a few drinks a game of poker was proposed and 
he was invited to make a fourth man. It was a 
case of three pluck one. The table at which they 
played was in the open bar room. Of course, the 
stranger was loser from the beginning, as it was 



BOGUS GOLD DUST 213 

intended he should be. But after a time the in- 
fluence of the liquor he had drank wore away 
and as one of the gamblers who had won the 
"pot" began drawing it in, he noticed that the 
hand was foul. It then dawned upon his befud- 
dled brain that he was being robbed, and reach- 
ing over, he attempted to prevent the money 
from being removed from the table, whereupon 
the gambler drew a pistol and shot the Irishman, 
who toppled out of his chair and fell full length 
upon the floor, but immediately rose upon one 
elbow and drawing a revolver, shot all three of 
the gamblers dead before they could escape from 
the room and when the last one fell, his arm 
collapsed and he turned on his back and expired 
without a groan. He not only relieved the coun- 
try of three characters that could well be spared, 
but in doing so he set an example which was 
a salutatory lesson to the fraternity of black- 
legs. Had not this incident so recently hap- 
pened, the meeting in the corral might have 
ended in a similar tragedy, for the main char- 
acter has since stated that when he went out to 
those men he expected to be killed, all he hoped 
to do was to leave a record that his friends 
would be proud of. He went into the corral with 
them because there they would be out of sight 
of the women in the house, realizing how un- 
pleasant for them it would be to see a lot of 
men killed. But the moment he succeeded in 
getting his back into a corner against the logs, 
his muscles became like steel stretched to full 



214 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

tension, and he knew that unless they punctured 
his spinal column and paralyzed him the first 
shot, he would kill them all. After normal con- 
ditions were restored and the tension somewhat 
relaxed, he concluded not to wait for the escort, 
which was to accompany him to Pickett Corral 
to serve notice of banishment on the bogus dust 
man, but inasmuch as that individual was pres- 
ent, he concluded to deliver it to him at once, 
which he proceeded to do, and as the accused 
refused to receive the written notice, he read it 
to him. Another stormy scene resulted but no 
casualties resulted. Thus was ended a dangerous 
and annoying traffic in less than twenty-four 
hours after its existence had been considered by 
the self-appointed judges. No costs were in- 
curred, no imprisonment followed. The agency 
simply suspended its operations in that line. The 
agent did what he was told to do, arranged his 
affairs within the time given him and disap- 
peared from the scene of his former activities. 
As was anticipated by the originators, the news 
of the organization of a vigilance committee and 
its prompt action in suppressing the traffic in 
bogus gold dust created consternation in some 
quarters and indignation in others; among the 
latter were the owners of the Washoe ferry, on 
Snake river, near its confluence with the Payette. 
The ferry was owned by two brothers who 
had gained an unenviable reputation by harbor- 
ing desperate characters who were known to be 
engaged in unlawful pursuits, one or more of 



BOGUS GOLD DUST 215 

whom were at the ferry almost continuously. 
The ferry-house which they occupied was in 
Oregon, the river being the state line. It was 
a strong log structure with a dirt roof, about 
twenty feet in length by sixteen in width, and 
being in a locality that was open to attack by In- 
dians, it was constructed and equipped to resist 
assault or withstand a siege should occasion 
arise. At one end it had a fireplace and chim- 
ney on the inside, a strong door at the other. 
Instead of windows, small port-holes for rifle 
practice were cut in the walls. The owners and 
occupants of this miniature fortress at the time 
the news of the recent action taken by the com- 
mittee, and its proclaimed intentions of taking 
more drastic measures in the future if it deemed 
such steps necessary, were not merely indignant, 
but were enraged, and feeling confident in their 
numbers, as well as in their location and the 
strength of their building, wrote an insulting 
letter, or proclamation, sending it not only to 
the president of the vigilance committee, but 
copies were also distributed at Boise City and in 
the mining towns throughout southern Idaho and 
eastern Oregon. 

They derided their efforts and challenged 
them to attempt the capture of the fortress, 
declaring there were not enough vigilantes in 
Payette valley to capture them. The challenge 
was brought up for discussion at the next regu- 
lar meeting, which convened a few days later, 
and as the crimes said to have been committed by 



216 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

some of the denizens of the ferry had already 
attracted wide attention, it was resolved to ac- 
cept the invitation extended, and to settle the 
problem respecting their ability to capture the 
place. The result of the contest that was 
thought to be inevitable would determine the 
future status of the country for an indefinite 
period, so far as property rights were concerned. 
A captain, with authority to appoint a lieutenant, 
and to call for volunteers, was appointed to lead 
the enterprise. A company of twenty men, in- 
cluding the captain and lieutenant, was imme- 
diately organized out of the members present at 
the meeting, and the "Hay-press Ranch" was 
chosen as the place of rendezvous from which to 
advance to the attack on the ferry, which was 
approximately twenty-five miles distant. The 
time for the meeting was set a few days be- 
fore the contemplated attack, in order to 
give the volunteers an opportunity for prepara- 
tion. When the time for departure arrived, there 
were no laggards. The roll being called, every 
man responded "present." They were not only 
present in person, but were fully equipped with 
horses and arms, prepared to engage in what 
they expected would be a desperate enterprise. 

The captain was given entire control and his 
plans were not known to even his lieutenant un- 
til the time arrived for their execution. The 
advance was ordered during the afternoon of a 
winter day, the ground being covered with snow 
to a depth of perhaps one foot; the sky was 



BOGUS GOLD DUST 217 

free from clouds, with the mercury hovering 
near the zero mark. The march was uninter- 
rupted until nearly half the distance was covered, 
when a point was reached where a branch road 
diverged from the main line, which at that time 
crossed the Payette River at the Bluff Station, 
the branch being the road to Washoe Ferry, the 
objective point of the expedition. Here a halt 
was made, and the captain, advancing to a hos- 
telry near the junction, asked the proprietress 
if she could entertain sixteen men over night 
and give them their breakfast at four o'clock the 
following morning. Without awaiting her reply 
and smiling at her astonishment, he said "Oh, 
I know you can, so I will leave them with you," 
and turning to his lieutenant said, "I will leave 
you here with all the men but three, whom I 
will take with me" — naming them. I want you 
to breakfast at 4 a. m., and immediately after- 
wards start for the ferry with your men, guag- 
ing your movements so as to arrive on the bank 
of the river precisely at sunrise," stating that 
he would go down the road with the men named, 
and during the night cross at Central Ferry, and 
then march back up the river on the Oregon side 
to the Washoe Ferry — arriving in time to co-op- 
erate with the main body. 

The men selected fell into line, leaving the 
main body as directed, and followed their leader 
down the main or stage road to Central Ferry, 
where they arrived at eight o'clock p. m. 

This ferry at that time was operated by a 



218 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

man named Eply, who had a woman employed as 
housekeeper who was a famous cook. The sup- 
per she prepared that night was long afterward 
a pleasant memory to those who partook of it; 
the horses were as well provided for as were the 
men, and after a rest of two hours, the captain 
called his men outside and told them that his 
plan was to capture the Washoe Ferry that night 
before the arrival of the lieutenant and his 
force. He called Epley, the Central ferryman, 
into the conference and inquired if he could 
transfer the party, including their horses, to the 
opposite bank of the river that night. Upon his 
expressing a willingness to make the attempt, 
despite the fact that the river was covered with 
floating, or anchor ice, the horses were saddled 
and the transfer made without accident. The 
distance to be traversed between the ferry land- 
ing and their objective point, was only about 
three miles, and although there was no moon, 
the starlight was sufficient to permit of good 
progress along the river bank. Hence they were 
but a short time in sighting the ferry house, 
which gave out no glimmer of light. A halt was 
called and the riders approached as near to one 
another as practicable, whereupon the captain 
asked all the men whether they knew the owners 
or the occupants of the ferry house; and one of 
them answering in the negative, he told him to 
approach the house alone, after the others had 
ridden along the road leading to the ferry to a 
point opposite the house. He was to dismount, 



BOGUS GOLD DUST 219 

and to divert suspicion, the others were to ride 
a few rods ahead, as if to approach the ferry- 
landing. The man chosen to arouse the inmates 
was to call to them that there was a party with 
him, desiring to be ferried across, so that they 
might pursue their way as far as possible that 
night. He was also to say that they had trav- 
eled up the river from Old's Ferry, on the Cen- 
tral Ferry road, but owing to anchor ice, the 
ferryman there had refused to cross the river, 
hence their appearance at that time. He was to 
state that they were willing to pay double ferri- 
age on account of the ice, and was instructed to 
say further that he was nearly frozen. If the 
door was opened to him, he was at once to 
approach the fireplace and stir up the embers, 
throwing onto them any kindling or light materi- 
al convenient, and as soon as it flared up, or 
blazed, to look sharply, for the posse would imme- 
diately charge. The plan worked as smoothly as 
if it had been rehearsed. There were six men 
in the house, all in bed asleep. One of them 
when awakened, arose and after lighting a can- 
dle and partially dressing himself, proceeded to 
open the door, which was fastened by passing a 
chain through an auger-hole in the door and 
around the jamb, the ends being fastened with a 
padlock. As soon as the door was open the sup- 
posed traveler went stamping the length of the 
room to the fire-place, his heavy Mexican spurs 
ringing over the earthen floor. By this time the 
entire party had dismounted and were stamping 



220 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

along the frozen road between the house and 
ferry, as if endeavoring to restore circulation 
while waiting for the ferryman. The spurs had, 
however, been removed from every heel, and all 
was in readiness for the signal which was mo- 
mentarily expected. They had but a short wait, 
as the fireplace was a bed of coals, which upon 
being stirred, and having a handful of dry wil- 
lows added, at once flashed up like powder, aud 
in an instant the door was filled with barrels of 
shotguns covering the inmates. Resistance 
would have been suicidal, hence none was made, 
and so without a shot being fired or a blow 
struck, the capture was effected. Of the six 
men in the house, only one had arisen and he was 
not armed. 

The beds with which the house was fur- 
nished were of the usual frontier pattern, per- 
manently fastened to the logs composing the 
wall. There were three of these bunks or beds 
ranging along the sides of the room, each being 
wide enough to accommodate two men. Above 
each bed, low enough to be easily reached, were 
hung the arms of the occupants, rifles and shot- 
guns on the hooks and pistols in holsters attached 
to belts. It was plainly evident that had the 
occupants suspected the character of their mid- 
night callers, no force available could have dis- 
lodged them, without the aid of artillery. After 
taking possession of all the arms and securing 
the horses in a shed, where hay and grain were 
found, dispositions were made to spend the re- 



BOGUS GOLD DUST 221 

mainder of the night. At sunrise, as had been 
prearranged, the lieutenant arrived with his 
troop and their surprise at finding the captain 
and his small posse in possession of the place 
was no doubt as great as that of the men they 
had so easily taken. 

Two of the prisoners were found to be 
strangers looking for a place to locate a ranch, 
and were unconscious of the character of the 
house in which they had secured a night's lodg- 
ing. If they are still alive their account of that 
adventure would be interesting. They were 
farmers not familiar with strenuous life, never 
before having been poked out of bed with the 
muzzle of a double-barreled shotgun, it was 
doubtless a new and alarming experience. The 
efforts they made to convince their captors that 
they were not horse-thieves or stage robbers 
were pathetic. Upon being told that they we're 
free and given their arms, huge dragoon revol- 
vers, they at once took their back track for their 
homes in the Willamette Valley, having no longer 
a desire to own land on Snake river. After the 
foregoing departure, a jury was selected to try 
the other men. The trial was not a long drawn- 
out affair like those of modern times, yet it was 
conducted with decorum and a degree of fairness 
seldom surpassed in legally conducted courts of 
justice. 

Technical rules of evidence were not per- 
mitted to interfere with the ascertainment of all 
information bearing on the case. It was dis- 



222 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

closed during the hearing that Stewart Bros, 
were the sole owners of the ferry, together with 
its appurtenances, and had been since its estab- 
lishment — a period of approximately two years. 
That during this time, while not keeping a road- 
house or hostelry, they had at various times re- 
ceived into their household, for indefinite periods, 
men of ill-repute who were supposed to be en- 
gaged in unlawful pursuits. One instance was 
shown, relative to a character known as "Black 
Charley,' '■ who was a guest at the ferry for sev- 
eral months during the summer of 1864, and 
while there, the man who had made the first 
location on the bottom land near the mouth of the 
Payette river, sold his claim, and being the near- 
est neighbor to the Stewart Bros., the circum- 
stance was well known to them, as also was the 
intention of the man to proceed overland to 
California, carrying with him the money received 
for his ranch and driving with him a bunch of 
valuable horses. Black Charley, learning of the 
circumstance, became interested, and keeping 
watch on the ranch knew when the start was 
made and the following day took his trail in 
pursuit. No trace of the man was ever found, 
although his friends in California, upon his 
failure to arrive, made diligent search. In those 
days few of the bleaching skeletons on the sage 
covered deserts of Idaho and Nevada were ever 
identified. 

Black Charlie did not return to his former 
haunts and the circumstances of his disappear- 



BOGUS GOLD DUST 223 

ance was known to only a few until the vigilance 
committee's jury unearthed the facts. Although 
no sufficient evidence was submitted to connect 
the Stewart brothers with the supposed crime, 
it was shown that they were cognizant of the 
character and the intent of Black Charlie and 
that, doubtless, had influence with the jury. It 
was also shown by conclusive testimony that 
while the owners of the ferry had no cattle of 
their own and never purchased any, they always 
had fresh beef to sell to travelers, as well as for 
their own use. One of the men captured with 
the brothers was also known to be an undesir- 
able citizen. The other of the four remaining 
was considered of no importance. 

Juries such as made this investigation, were 
vested with more power than that reposed in the 
county and district juries of our civil courts. 
They not only passed upon the guilt and inno- 
cence of the accused, but they also determined 
the severity of the sentence. The verdict of the 
jury in the foregoing case was acquittal for one 
of the men, banishment within twenty-four hours 
for another, while the brothers were to suffer 
the extreme penalty, which was inflicted at 
twelve o'clock meridian the following day, at or 
near the Junction House on the stage road, where 
a gallows was to be erected. 

In the interim before the sentence was exe- 
cuted, the prisoners were to be taken to Cog- 
gin's, at Bluff Station Ferry on the Payette, to 
be held until the hour set for their final fare- 



224 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

well. They were accordingly permitted to sad- 
dle their horses, then accompanied by their cap- 
tors, the entire troop crossed the river and pro- 
ceeded to the point designated, where they ar- 
rived late in the afternoon. The condemned 
brothers were aged approximately 26 and 28 
years, and were named respectively Charles and 
Alexander, but under a custom of the country, 
their names were abbreviated into Charley and 
Alex., so they were accordingly recognized as 
Charley and Alex Stewart. The latter was the 
younger; as sometimes happens in families, 
there was but little resemblance between them. 
Alex was larger and stronger, both mentally and 
physically, than his brother, though the latter 
was no weakling. They were born and reared 
in Canada, on the banks of the St. Lawrence 
river, and from early boyhood had been trained 
in the use of water-craft, hence their location on 
Snake river as ferrymen. When they first estab- 
lished the ferry, the young men were but recent- 
ly from the home where they were born, and 
while they were probably no better, it is not 
likely that they were worse than the average 
boy reared in the Canadian provinces. Their 
good-fellowship was the cause of their fall. Liv- 
ing remote from the companionship of neighbors, 
at a point that was never free from the danger 
of attack by predatory bands of Indians, they 
were glad to welcome as guests almost any white 
men who came to their ferry, and since the gen- 
tlemen who sometimes held up stage coaches as 



BOGUS GOLD DUST 225 

a diversion were frequently the most cheerful 
and companionable men who came over the road, 
and were seldom in a hurry, they too were made 
welcome and no questions were asked. Thus the 
young men, by reason of evil associations, be- 
came ambitious of gaining distinction as braves, 
until finally they identified themselves with the 
lawless element by issuing a challenge to the 
vigilance committee, with the results recorded. 

The verdict of the jury did not meet the 
approval of the captain of the vigilantes, so 
beckoning Alex to follow him, he walked away 
from the others, down to the bank of the river, 
and when he had reached a point out of hearing 
from the house, he waited for him to approach. 
He then said, "Alex, I am going to let you and 
Charlie go, or at least I am going to try to do 
so. These men would hang me as soon as they 
would you, if they thought I was untrue to them, 
but I will take the chance. I am going to do so, 
not because I think you are innocent, for I know 
you are guilty, but I do not think your crime 
justifies such severe punishment. I will endeavor 
to give you your freedom under the promise 
which I expect you to make, that you will leave 
this country and try to lead good and honorable 
lives, and I want you to distinctly understand 
that if you succeed in effecting your escape, that 
you must not return at any time in the future 
with the intention of getting even with the mem- 
bers of the vigilance committee." Alex at this 
point, for the first time since his arrest, evi- 

15 E. H. I. 



226 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

denced any feeling; his eyes now filled with tears 
and in a broken voice he admitted they had 
done wrong, claiming they had been used as cat's- 
paws by bad, designing men, and promised im- 
plicit obedience to all the captain asked. The 
following night, about ten o'clock, the prisoners 
were assigned a bed in a log building used as a 
store room. It had a door opening to the street 
which was kept locked, and another door open- 
ing into another room in which a guard, consist- 
ing of two men, was stationed, the night being 
divided into two watches. The men were aroused 
to take the second watch, and feeling sleepy, con- 
cluded that, as there was no way the prisoners 
could effect their escape, except through the door 
entering the room where they were expected to 
keep their weary watch, they could avoid loss of 
sleep and at the same time hold the condemned 
by taking the blankets from which they had 
recently arisen and making a bed across the 
door of the prison room and then retire. The 
prisoners, it was thought, would awaken the 
sleepers if they attempted to escape by stepping 
over the bed. But alas, the ingenuity of the 
guard was ineffectual. When day dawned and 
the guard awoke, they found a vacant bed in the 
prison chamber, and the prisoners had flown. 
It was found that the outer door had been un- 
locked by some person who had a key, and the 
tracks of the escaping men were plainly visible 
in the snow. A consultation was held and the 
conclusion reached that pursuit of the fugitives 



BOGUS GOLD DUST 227 

should be instituted immediately after the horses 
and men had breakfasted. Accordingly, two 
hours later, all were in readiness and as the 
tracks of the fleeing men led in the direction of 
Snake river, it was concluded that they were 
aiming for the ferry where their capture had 
been effected, with the purpose of crossing Snake 
river and escaping into Oregon. The pursuers, 
therefore, divided into two parties, one of which, 
headed by the captain, went by the Central ferry, 
following the same route traveled by himself and 
party the night the capture was made, and the 
other party headed by Lieutenant Paddock fol- 
lowed the tracks of the fugitives. It appeared 
that the escape must have been made soon after 
the guard was changed, probably not later than 
two o'clock, for, instead of going directly to the 
ferry, the tracks led to a point on the river about 
two miles above, at which an ice gorge had been 
lodged for several weeks, their probable inten- 
tion being to cross there, as it had bridged the 
river for some distance, but before their arrival 
it had broken up and the ice had gone on down 
the river. Disappointed in their object, they 
turned down to the ferry, where they arrived in 
time to join Hadley, the man who had been 
given twenty-four hours to leave the country, 
and who, at the time of their arrival, had his 
horses up and was preparing to depart. They, 
therefore, were able to unite and leave together, 
taking the trail for the lower country. When 
the party that had persistently followed their 



228 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

tracks, arrived at the ferry, the objects of their 
pursuit had disappeared over the hills to the 
westward. The captain and the men who had 
gone with him via Central Ferry, arrived soon 
after the others, and greatly to his discomfiture, 
found that one of the men belonging to the trail- 
ing party had gone on alone after the fugitives, 
believing that others would follow as soon as the 
ranking officer arrived. When he arrived the 
captain was not disappointed to find that the 
escapes had already left, for he expected such 
a result, and it had been his intention to call the 
men together at the ferry and say to them that 
he believed the real object of the committee, the 
ridding of the country of a lot of bad men, had 
been effectually accomplished. The men who 
escaped were thoroughly frightened, and if per- 
mitted to do so, would no doubt keep on going un- 
til out of reach. They and all others of their kind 
would, in the future, have a wholesome dread of 
the Payette Vigilantes. But the departure 
of the lone pursuer disarranged his former plans, 
since he could not permit one lone man to follow 
three, who, no doubt, were rendered desperate 
by their recent experience. So he at once rode 
out in front of the men and expressed his deter- 
mination to take their trail and recapture the 
prisoners. Calling for volunteers, he rode rapid- 
ly away, while out of all who were present only 
three men followed his lead, thus showing that 
nearly all of the company held the same opinions 
as those the captain had intended to express. 



BOGUS GOLD DUST 229 

After following the road taken by the Stewarts 
for a few miles, the captain's party overtook the 
lone rider who had preceded them, and the pur- 
suing force, now consisting of five men, began 
the pursuit with renewed vigor. The ground 
that their route traversed was covered with 
snow to a depth of eighteen inches, and as the 
trail had not been traveled during the winter 
until its passage was attempted by the fugitives, 
the progress made by both parties was neces- 
sarily slow. And owing to the distance gained 
by the fleeing men, before their pursuers left the 
ferry, it was almost night before the latter came 
within sight of the camp that had been made by 
the escapes, and then the view was not of the 
camp proper, but of the smoke from the fire they 
had kindled, and of the saddle and pack horses 
they had turned loose on the hills adjacent, 
where the bunch grass had grown in profusion 
the summer previous, much of which was still 
above the snow. The men had forced their way 
into a dense thicket of willows, growing approx- 
imately three-fourths of a mile above Old's Ferry 
on the Oregon side of the river, and by cutting 
down and bending down a few of the smaller 
bushes, they had made a camp which was pro- 
tected, not only from the wind, but also from the 
observation of anyone who chanced to pass along 
the Central Ferry road, which followed up the 
course of the river near the base of the hill not 
far from the camp site chosen. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

HUMAN LIVES IN THE BALANCE. 

T7R0M the general appearance of things, it 
■*■ was evident to the captain that the intent 
of the men in camp were to remain there dur- 
ing the night, at least; it being imperative that 
the horses should have rest and time to feed, 
and the men were undoubtedly much exhausted 
after two such strenuous nights and days as they 
had endured. The captain therefore made a 
detour to the left, and keeping within the hills 
out of sight of the camp, passed around it and 
on down to Old's ferry. Here he crossed both 
the men and horses on the ice, the boat being 
frozen in, and they arrived at the comfortable 
hostelry kept by the proprietor's family, almost 
as badly in need of rest as the men in camp 
above in the willows. The following morning 
smoke was still ascending from the camp in the 
willows, which was in plain view up the river 
from Old's, showing that the pursued were still 
there. After breakfast the men who had passed 
the night at Old's ferry ordered their horses and 
mounting, rode out to the middle of the river on 
the ice, where, after halting the men, the cap- 
tain said to them that it was his opinion that a 



HUMAN LIVES IN THE BALANCE 231 

body of men might do, and sometimes did do 
things that every individual in the party, in his 
own secret conscience, believed was not right. 
He simply goes ahead with the crowd and says 
nothing, for fear that he might be accused of 
weakening, but for his part he believed moral 
courage was equally as commendable as physical 
courage. Hence he desired to state before pro- 
ceeding further, that it was his opinion that if 
they could retake the men whom they had fol- 
lowed so far, and disarm them, paying them for 
their weapons, which would give them some 
money with which to pay their expenses down 
the road, it would be better than to kill them 
where they are. "We can kill them, for we are 
the stronger party, and are fully as well armed 
as they, but both as your captain and as an indi- 
vidual, I will not stand for it, and right here 
and now I want the opinion of every member of 
this party." Upon which each one gave his 
views as desired, and of the four men accom- 
panying him, only one differed with the ideas he 
had expressed; and the one who favored exter- 
mination was George Coggan, who was himself 
killed several years later by the Indians in the 
Blue Mountains, in Oregon, during the Bannock 
war. The majority being of the same opinion 
as the captain, he told them it was not probable 
that they could advance in a body and retake 
their late prisoners without precipitating a con- 
flict. But he believed one man might approach 
their camp and make known the terms of their 



232 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

proposed surrender without so much probability 
of resistance. And as he was responsible for the 
suggestion, he volunteered to act as envoy, to 
which proposal consent was given, with the pro- 
viso that the whole party should be allowed to 
accompany him to within pistol shot of a point 
in the road opposite the camp-fire where the 
conference would probably take place. The car- 
rying out of the foregoing plan was fraught 
with serious danger to the envoy, as the bro- 
ers might conclude that their escape had been 
permitted for the purpose of following them 
with a number of picked men and disposing of 
them in a more secret manner than was pos- 
sible in the settlement where all the parties were 
known. In case they should conceive such an 
idea, it was almost a certainty that they would 
resolve to sell their lives as dearly as possible, 
in which event they would begin hostilities by 
shooting the captain, who, while opposite their 
camp-fire, would be at their mercy. These were 
the reasons why the men insisted on being al- 
lowed to come within pistol-shot. However, the 
advance was made as agreed, the men stopping 
at a distance of about one hundred yards from 
where a thin column of smoke was ascending 
from among the willows, but nothing could be 
seen or heard around the camp. The captain 
kept on until opposite the fire, then halting, he 
called, "Boys," twice. No answer was made, so 
pausing a moment, he called "Alex." At this 
Charlie rose with a double barreled shot-gun and 



HUMAN LIVES IN THE BALANCE 233 

was leveling it to shoot, when Alex caught his 
arm in time to prevent the discharge. The cap- 
tain then said, "Come out and deliver up your 
arms, there is no use in trying to resist." To 
which Alex replied, "I will give them up to 
you." The captain responded "All right." He 
then brought all their guns and pistols out and 
delivered them up. An appraisement was made 
at once of the weapons, and their value was paid 
in cash to the owners; who soon after saddled 
their horses and left for Powder River Valley, 
while the vigilantes proceeded up the river to 
their respective homes, where, upon reciting the 
incidents related, they were met with the gen- 
eral acclaim: "Well done, thou good and faith- 
ful servant." Stewart brothers were the last 
of the Mohicans. The Payette Vigilantes never 
met in force again. Like the summer dew which 
gently falls even in the darkest night, after re- 
freshing its mother earth, vanishes under the 
rays of the rising sun, and is absorbed by the 
atmosphere — so vanished, after its duty had been 
performed, the Payette Vigilance Committee, 
its membership being absorbed by the body 
politic of the county. Within three months of 
its organization the committee transformed the 
Payette Valley, with its hitherto unsavory repu- 
tation, into a community of peaceful homes, 
where life and property were as safe as in any 
of the older states or territories in the Union. 
Of the men who enacted the foregoing historical 
drama, but few are now alive and they are 



234 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

widely scattered among friends and kindred, 
where they as bravely await the Last Call as 
they once faced their enemies in the '60's. The 
towns of Emmett, New Plymouth and Payette 
have sprung up in the valley which was the 
field of their earlier activities. Troops of eager, 
laughing girls and boys, on their way to and 
from school, now pass daily over the same roads 
that more than forty years ago were traveled by 
these iron-constitutioned, gun-armed men. 

The action of the vigilance committee (1) 
in driving into banishment the local agent of the 
bogus gold dust syndicate, and (2) in capturing 
the stronghold at Washoe Ferry, and thereby 
scattering its inmates, attracted wide attention, 
and was the paramount topic of conversation 
among gamblers, horse-thieves, and stage-rob- 
bers for weeks thereafter. It was finally con- 
cluded by them that a crisis had arrived, and 
that unless the vigilance committee was put out 
of business, their vocations must be abandoned. 

The county of Ada having been organized, 
and Opdyke appointed to the sheriff's office, they 
appealed to him for protection. A consultation 
was held and the situation was thoroughly can- 
vassed. It was here determined that the per- 
manency and effectiveness of the committee 
depended entirely on a few men, who were both 
the organizers and the leaders. Foremost 
among this number, they placed the captain 
who had led the recent movement against the 
Washoe Ferry gang. 



HUMAN LIVES IN THE BALANCE 235 

It was decided that an effective method of 
suppressing the uprising of citizens on the Pay- 
ette would be to legally remove one or more of 
the leaders, the captain having been chosen for 
the first victim of their experiment. 

Warrants were issued for the arrests of all 
those settlers living in the Payette Valley who 
were supposed to belong to the vigilance com- 
mittee. A large number of deputy sheriffs were 
sworn in to make the arrests ; some of them were 
good men, and actually believed that the Vigi- 
lantes, as they were called, were a bloodthirsty 
lot of cut-throats. It was not intended that these 
deputies should have any part in the execution 
of the real purpose of those who conceived the 
plan, which was to strike terror into the hearts 
of the rank and file of the committee by killing 
a few of its leaders. Accordingly, the Pickett 
Corral contingent was appointed special depu- 
ties to arrest the captain, who was known to be 
at his home above Horseshoe Bend. 

It was proposed that the Pickett Corral 
officers should separate from the other deputies 
at the point where the stage road to Boise City 
diverged from the Placerville road, the place 
of divergence being near where is now the city 
of Emmett, and only a short distance from their 
own headquarters, Pickett Corral, the plan be- 
ing for them to remain at the stage-station 
until the following night, when they were to 
proceed up the river to make the arrest. Arriv- 
ing late at night, they were to arouse the cap- 



236 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

tain and his men after the plan adopted by them 
in gaining entrance at Washoe Ferry. No quar- 
ter was to be given to either the captain or 
those with him. Since no witnesses were to be 
left alive to tell a tale differing from that 
planned to be told by the posse, who were to 
say that resistance having been offered, it was 
necessary for them to resort to the use of their 
shot-guns. The departure from such a small 
place as Boise was, at that time, of so large a 
force of men, mounted and armed, could not fail 
to excite considerable comment among the popu- 
lation, and soon all kinds of rumors were afloat. 
Such an extraordinary procedure as the sheriff's 
appointment of deputies belonging to an organiz- 
ation so well and unfavorably known as the 
Pickett Corral band caused grave apprehension. 

His object was suspected by a party of men 
who had assembled at the sutler store soon after 
the departure of the sheriff's troop. It was re- 
marked by one of the number present that it 
was a pity that such a disreputable lot of scoun- 
drels should be dignified by the name of deputy 
sheriffs and permitted to advance, upon any 
man's house in the night, without warning; that 
if the captain of the vigilantes knew they were 
coming it might be quite different. George W. 
Hunt, who in after years became distinguished 
as a railroad builder, was present in the store 
at the time, and at once announced his willing- 
ness to attempt the passage of the trail across 
the foothills to Horseshoe Bend, if he could se- 



HUMAN LIVES IN THE BALANCE 237 

cure a horse. Quartermaster Hughes, who was 
stationed at Boise Barracks, being present, im- 
mediately responded that he had the best saddle 
horse in the territory at that time, and he would 
cheerfully place him at Mr. Hunt's disposal. It 
was soon settled that the attempt should be 
made, and within an hour the daring rider 
headed his mount for the unbroken snow on the 
hill trail, bent on an errand of mercy, without 
hope of reward, other than the consciousness of 
being, perhaps, instrumental in saving human 
life. Only those who have faced the terrible 
sameness of snow-covered hills, without human 
habitation, for eighteen miles, can realize the 
dangers the rider encountered that day. In 
many places a slip of the horse's feet would 
have meant precipitation into a gulch, with per- 
haps broken limbs, without hope of rescue. The 
horse proved all his owner claimed and the ter- 
rible journey was made without accident, in 
time to give the warning the rider carried. 
Upon being informed of the intended visit, the 
captain sent a messenger to a neighboring ranch 
with the news and asking the early presence of 
two men prepared to take a ride. The messen- 
ger was absent less than an hour when he 
returned with the information that the men 
required would follow him as soon as horses 
could be fed and saddled. During the interim, 
while awaiting their arrival, preparations were 
made for departure and in less than two hours 
from the time the news reached the ranch, a 



238 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

party of four mounted men rode away — the cap- 
tain observing that it would be a pity to impose 
on such a distinguished party of deputy sheriffs 
by requiring them to ride so far to serve papers 
in such inclement weather, that it would be 
proper to meet them at least half way. They 
accordingly proceeded down the river, expecting 
at any moment they would appear, but a hitch 
had occurred in the original plan, the special 
deputies being held until the arrests were made 
in the lower valley, which caused a delay of 
twenty-four hours. Consequently the man whom 
they were detailed to arrest and his friends rode 
the entire distance before the posse was pre- 
pared to start and as they approached the Junc- 
tion House, seeing a row of guns ranged against 
the side of the house under the front porch, they 
realized that the crisis had arrived. The house 
was but a few feet back from the main road 
along which they were riding, and there being 
no windows on that side, the inmates had no 
warning of their approach until they were im- 
mediately in front of the door, when one of the 
deputies jerked it open and reached for his gun. 
The movement, however, was anticipated, and 
the sharp command "drop it," had hardly passed 
the leader's lips when the hand and arm were 
withdrawn and the door was as violently closed 
as it had been opened. No other words were 
uttered, nothing was said about the warrants or 
arrests and the horsemen proceeded on their 
way to the next house, where it was learned 



HUMAN LIVES IN THE BALANCE 239 

that the sheriff's party had returned to Boise 
with a large number of prisoners, supposed 
members of the vigilance committee. The spec- 
ial deputies who were supposed to do the deadly- 
work were so crestfallen at their failure that 
they were ashamed to report to headquarters, 
and to avoid being gibed, crossed the river to 
the ranch of an acquaintance and went on a pro- 
tracted debauch. 

The prisoners taken to Boise were promptly 
arraigned and as promptly discharged, there be- 
ing no evidence that they had violated any law, 
and before their arrival it was generally under- 
stood that their arrest was to be only an incident 
of the object to be accomplished. Thus ended a 
disgraceful fiasco, the expense of which was paid 
by the taxpayers of Ada County. 

But one occurrence ever arose to disturb 
the tranquility which followed the eventful win- 
ter of vigilante reign in Payette and Boise Val- 
leys, and that was brought about by a chance 
meeting which took place eight months later in 
Walla Walla, between Alex Stewart and E. D. 
Holbrook — then delegate to congress from Idaho 
Territory. The latter, on hearing a recital of 
the manner in which Washoe Ferry had been 
captured, and the circumstances relating to the 
escape of its occupants, insisted that Alex should 
return with him to Boise, where they would 
make it hot for the d — d vigilantes. 

Stewart finally assented and accompanied 
Holbrook to Boise City, where a civil action was 



240 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

promptly begun against a number of men who 
had been prominently connected with the move- 
ment leading to the breaking up of the Washoe 
Ferry gang. Damages to the amount of forty 
thousand dollars were claimed. 

The sheriff's deputy who was sent to serve 
the papers on the defendants, began his work at 
the lower end of the valley, and did not arrive 
at Horseshoe Bend until the following afternoon, 
and it was six o'clock before he completed his 
service above that place. The commotion caused 
by bringing such an action against the most 
prominent ranchers in the valley, may be con- 
jectured when it is remembered that the sheriff, 
at that time, was so proficient in summoning 
and selecting jurors that he was able to secure 
almost any verdict desired. The captain was 
the last man upon whom the complaint was 
served, and upon reading it, he at once directed 
one of his men to bring in and saddle a horse, 
as he intended to ride to Boise that night. Which 
he accordingly did — a distance of twenty-one 
miles — arriving in that town the following morn- 
ing about sun-up ; before many people were astir, 
proceeding at once to Sheriff Opdyke's office, 
which was in a saloon adjoining a livery stable, 
also kept by the sheriff, he having learned from 
the sheriff's deputy, who served the papers upon 
him the previous evening, that Stewart was 
staying with the sheriff. Entering the saloon, 
which never closed, he found only a porter, who 
was cleaning up the aftermath of the previous 



HUMAN LIVES IN THE BALANCE 241 

night's orgy, and asking him where Stewart 
could be found, the porter beckoned to a door 
leading to a back room, opening which, the cap- 
tain entered and found several men lying on the 
floor wrapped in blankets, all of whom, except 
one, were asleep. 

The one exception being Stewart, who arose 
on his elbow and confronted the intruder; for 
several seconds which were fraught with serious 
possibilities, not a word was uttered, each look- 
ing the other intently in the eye. At last the 
captain spoke and said, "Alex, I thought you had 
a little sense, but you have none; you are a 
fool." To which Stewart replied, "Well, it looks 
pretty tough; all we received for that ferry was 
three cayuse horses," To this the captain re- 
plied, "That question does not enter into the dis- 
cussion. When the Payette Vigilantes held you 
and your brother under sentence of death, I 
told you that under certain conditions and prom- 
ises I would assist your escape. One of those 
promises being that you were to leave the coun- 
try and try to lead better lives and become good 
men; telling you at the time, that if you ever 
returned and attempted to get even on the vigil- 
ance committee, or any of its membership, I 
would go after you and take your scalp, or help 
hang you sure. Now if from what you know of 
me, you think I am a man who will keep his 
promise, you had better withdraw that suit and 
leave Boise City within twenty-four hours, or 
the chances are that you will not live forty- 
eight." 

16 E. H.I. 



242 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

After making this statement the captain 
turned and left the room without any of the 
other sleepers being awakened. 

The suit was withdrawn, as suggested, and 
neither of the Stewart brothers were ever seen 
in Boise after that time. This was the last act 
in the drama which relieved Boise and Payette 
valleys of their undesirables. 

During the remainder of the year nothing- 
occurred to disturb the tranquility that followed 
the foregoing events. But when spring arrived, 
and travel to and from the mines was resumed, 
the Piute Indians, who occupied the country 
south and west of Owyhee, made several incur- 
sions into the Snake river, Boise and Payette 
valleys, murdering settlers, killing cattle, and 
driving off bands of horses. As the small force 
of infantry, which was then garrisoned at Boise 
Barracks, was unable to pursue and punish the 
invaders, a citizens' meeting was called in Boise 
City to devise measures to meet the emergency. 
At that meeting it was resolved to issue a call 
for volunteers and also an appeal to the business 
men and citizens generally, for contributions to 
equip a company. A resolution was also adopted, 
providing that the volunteers should elect their 
own captain and furthermore, the men who 
served as volunteers should, on their return from 
the field, be allowed to retain, as their own, in 
compensation for their services, the horses and 
equipment used while in service. After the 
adoption of the foregoing resolution and the 



HUMAN LIVES IN THE BALANCE 243 

appointment of the necessary committee, an ad- 
journment was taken until eight o'clock the 
next evening, at which time the committee on 
volunteers reported the enrollment of sixty 
names. The committee on finance reported sub- 
scriptions amounting to forty-five hundred dol- 
lars. 

After a thorough canvas of the subject, it 
was concluded that the money available would be 
sufficient to outfit and equip forty men, but as 
only small bands of Indians were usually en- 
gaged in the predatory raids, the foregoing num- 
ber, it was thought, would be able to teach them 
a salutary lesson. The volunteers assembled the 
next day and chose Dave Opdyke as their cap- 
tain, and he at once proceeded to select forty 
men out of the sixty enrolled. Saddle-horses, 
pack-animals and all the equipment of frontier 
warfare were speedily purchased, and four days 
after the first call for volunteers was issued, a 
troop of forty well mounted, well armed men 
crossed Boise river, en route, as was supposed, 
to the country occupied by the hostiles. Two 
weeks after their departure a messenger ar- 
rived in Boise with dispatches from the officer 
in command, conveying the information that the 
company was camped on Snake river about forty 
miles from Boise City and that the officers and 
men were in excellent health. They had spent 
much time in gaining proficiency with fire-arms 
by shooting at a mark, and having removed the 
sage brush from a level piece of river bottom, 



244 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

had prepared a race track and were testing the 
speed of their saddle horses. They had, up to 
the time the messenger left, escaped being mo- 
lested by the Indians and expected to return to 
Boise soon, as they thought the hostiles learning 
of their approach, had abandoned the territory 
and gone to Nevada. That such a message was 
sent to the expectant citizens of Boise has been 
denied, but the fact remains that they spent 
most of the time during their absence in camp, 
as stated, and returned without having seen an 
Indian. Of course, as per agreement, the horses 
and equipment furnished by the citizens, had be- 
come the property of the returned volunteers 
and the war-worn veterans immediately dis- 
banded. A few days subsequent, a disagreement 
arose between one of the returned men and a 
farmer, concerning the ownership of a horse — 
the arbitrament of which was submitted to a 
justice of the peace. During the taking of testi- 
mony which followed, several of the men were 
examined under oath, all but one telling the same 
story. The one whose evidence differed radically 
from the others, was enrolled on the rosters of 
the company as Raymond, and was only eighteen 
years old, and while he was in size almost a 
full grown man, yet he was only a laughing boy, 
but recently from a home where his big blue 
eyes and curly locks were, no doubt, a mother's 
pride. He was a boy in whose defense any man 
not a coward would have fought, no matter what 
the odds. After the hearing was concluded the 



HUMAN LIVES IN THE BALANCE 245 

principals and witnesses in the case, leaving the 
court-room, congregated on the street to discuss 
the trial and several of those who had testified 
opposite to young Raymond gathered about him 
and accused him of swearing falsely; finally one 
of the number slapped him on the face, where- 
upon Raymond backed against the wall of a 
building and drawing his revolver, stood in a 
position of defense. One of his accusers ex- 
claimed "Shoot, d — n you, shoot," to which he 
replied: "No, I don't want to shoot, but I am 
a boy unable to fight men and do not intend to 
be beaten." After which announcement, a tin- 
horn gambler named Johnny Clark, who had 
gone out with the volunteers, drew a revolver 
and shot Raymond down. A surgeon, Ephriam 
Smith, who had approached the scene of the 
shooting in time to hear the conversation and 
witness the tiagedy, made a hasty examination 
of the wounded boy, and realizing that he had 
but a few moments to live, turned to the crowd 
and said, "Gentlemen, this is a d — d outrage." 
Whereupon Opdyke, who was present, taking the 
doctor by the arm led him aside and warned him 
to keep still, as this, meaning the shooting of 
Raymond, was only a beginning. The young 
man, after the examination by the surgeon was 
completed, said to the bystanders, "I did not 
draw my gun on Johnny Clark, did I?" To 
which several replied, "No." He then con- 
cluded, "I think it was a cowardly act for him 
to shoot me in this manner: I hate to be shot 



246 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

down like a dog for telling the truth." These 
were the last words he uttered. The murderer 
was at once arrested as a matter of form, and 
as a precaution to prevent the people from taking 
his punishment into their own hands, a prelim- 
inary examination was held during the evening 
of the same day, at which all the ex-volunteers, 
who were present, testified that the man who 
was shot had drawn his pistol first and that the 
shooting done by Clark was in self-defense. 
However, the cry for vengeance was so pro- 
nounced that the court decided to hold the ac- 
cused, thinking, no doubt, that many who wit- 
nessed the difficulty would soon leave the city 
and that also public sentiment would undergo a 
change, as it frequently does in such cases. To 
protect the prisoner from violence arrangements 
were made with Major Marshall, who was at 
that time commandant at Boise Barracks, to 
confine him in the military guard-house until 
the storm had blown over. But such forethought 
came too late. The straw had been added which 
was to break the earners back. The good people 
of Boise were aroused by the pistol-shot that 
caused the death of poor Raymond. 

Word was industriously but secretly circu- 
lated during the following day among the busi- 
ness and professional men, announcing that a 
meeting would be held at a place named, the fol- 
lowing night at nine o'clock sharp, for the pur- 
pose of considering the advisability of effecting 
an organization similar to the one which had 



HUMAN LIVES IN THE BALANCE 247 

accomplished such a salutary reformation in the 
Payette Valley. The proposed meeting convened 
at the time and place designated and without 
delay it was unanimously resolved to organize a 
committee to be known as "The Boise City Vigi- 
lance Committee/' and they at once proceeded to 
adopt a constitution and by-laws similar to those 
of the Payette committee The organization 
was completed and officers elected at the first 
meeting, after which the case of the last murder, 
that committed by Clark, was taken up and dis- 
cussed. 

It being the unanimous opinion of those 
present that the murder was in cold blood and 
it being further agreed that, judging by the con- 
duct of the officers and the perjured testimony 
of the witnesses at the preliminary hearing, it 
was the intent to give the prisoner his liberty 
at an early day, a resolution was therefore 
offered and unanimously adopted, to the effect 
that the crime committed by Clark entitled its 
perpetrator to the penalty of death and an execu- 
tive committee was named to carry the decree 
into effect, with authority to call out the full 
membership, if necessary, for the purpose. The 
military guardhouse in which the prisoner was 
confined was a stone structure located on the 
lower side of the square, around which the 
officers' quarters, commissary buildings and bar- 
racks were erected. In one end of the building 
was a row of cells, with bunks for the inmates, 
the remainder of the building being used for a 



248 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

guard-house, where several men were continu- 
ally stationed, ready to respond to any call from 
the sentinel, who continuously paced his beat in 
front. As will be understood, the self-imposed 
task of the vigilance committee, that of taking 
from the guard-house the prisoner Clark, was 
not one easy of accomplishment, since cap- 
turing the guard might result in fatalities which 
must be eliminated. 

A sergeant was continually present in 
charge of the men in the guard room, and as 
these non-commissioned officers were indignant 
in consequence of having to guard civilian pris- 
oners, the executive committee experienced but 
little difficulty in pursuading the officer, who 
was to be on duty the night chosen, to permit 
the removal of the prisoner, arrangements were 
made accordingly. Some months previous, a 
company of Oregon volunteers, on their way to 
garrison Fort Hall, had left in the hospital at 
Boise barracks one of their number who was 
unable to march. 

He had recovered from his illness and was 
reported fit for duty on the afternoon prior to 
the proposed capture of the guard-house, and the 
sergeant not wishing to have a sentinel of his 
company captured on his post, placed the con- 
valescent volunteer on duty at the time of the 
expected attack. The volunteer was only about 
twenty years of age and his illness was caused by 
homesickness, as much as by malaria. He went 
on guard duty that night at twelve o'clock, unsus- 



HUMAN LIVES IN THE BALANCE 249 

picious of danger or surprise, and began his 
tramp within its limits, with mind far removed 
from Boise City and the Barracks. Only a 
short time after his watch began and while he 
was in the act of turning to retrace his steps 
on his lonely beat, several men darted around 
the corner of the guard-house and before he 
could make an alarm he was seized and thrown 
to the ground, where his captors proceeded to 
bind his limbs and gag him. They then entered 
the guard-room, where the inmates being asleep, 
they had no difficulty in taking possession; open- 
ing the cell where Clark was confined they 
brought him with them outside, locked the door, 
securing the sergeant and all his men, with the 
exception of the sentinel on the outside, and then 
took their way along the foot of the hill to the 
westward, taking their prisoner with them. 
Soon after their departure the sentinel succeeded 
in releasing his hands, and obtaining possession 
of his musket, sent a bullet after his fleeing cap- 
tors. The discharge attracted the attention of 
a sentinel on another beat, who gave an alarm 
and the entire garrison was soon aroused and 
under arms, when being deployed in skirmish 
line, they searched the neighborhood, but with- 
out result. 

When morning dawned it was discovered 
that a triangle had been erected on the ground 
where the old Central school building was sub- 
sequently built and on it hung the lifeless body 
of the murderer. 



250 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

The prompt and daring action taken by the 
committee caused great consternation among 
the so-called sporting class in Boise, and an 
exodus at once began. The execution of Clark 
was the only instance in which the organization 
intervened to punish an offender, although it was 
generally known that they did not disband for 
some time afterward and that knowledge doubt- 
less had a salutary influence in preventing fur- 
ther crime. 

Some time subsequent to the execution of 
Clark, Dave Opdyke was hanged on the Overland 
stage road by three employes of the stage com- 
pany, and a young man who was, at the time, 
Clerk of the District Court, was persuaded to 
accompany them. The hanging was credited to 
the Boise City Vigilance Committee, owing to 
a card, or label, with the insignia of the vigilance 
committee, being attached to the body. How- 
ever, the committee had no part in the act, and 
none of its members were present. The word 
was given out that the hanging grew out of the 
burning of the stage company's hay, which oc- 
curred some time before, and was charged to 
Opdyke. Consequently the community felt as 
if another bad man was gone, and no regrets 
were expressed. The excitement caused by the 
hanging of Clark did not end with his burial. 
Seven years after the foregoing events had trans- 
pired a transportation company, operating steam- 
boats on the Columbia and Willamette rivers, had 
what was called an "old horse" auction in Port- 



HUMAN LIVES IN THE BALANCE 251 

land, Oregon. At such sales the unclaimed cases 
and packages are sold without being opened for 
examination by the intending purchasers, con- 
sequently the sale partook of the nature of a 
lottery, and on that account attracted a great 
many people, the rival bidders frequently run- 
ning the bids, on promising packages, up to high 
figures. However, it sometimes happened that the 
purchaser drew a valuable prize. At the sale, 
to which reference is made, a long box, or case, 
attracted the cupidity of a groceryman named 
Mitchell, who at that time had a store on First 
street. Others besides Mitchell cast covetous 
glances at the case, causing the bidding to be- 
come spirited, but Mitchell finally won the prize, 
and calling a dray, had it conveyed to his store, 
where, in the presence of Rachel, his wife, it 
was speedily opened and the contents exposed. 
To the surprise and horror of them both, the 
case was found to contain the mummified body 
of a man. The police were notified and re- 
quested to remove the human derelict, but a 
question as to the legality of such a procedure 
arose. Learned barristers were consulted, who, 
being unable to find any statute covering such 
cases, advised that the merchant be required 
to bury his own dead, and there being no dispute 
as to the ownership of the body, which was but 
little more than a skeleton, Mr. Mitchell was 
forced to act as funeral conductor in a procession 
consisting only of the deceased and himself, 
Rachael being so prostrated by grief from the 



252 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

shock and loss of money paid out at the sale 
that she was unable to go to the cemetery. 

It was learned some weeks later that the 
shrunken body, which caused so many conjec- 
tures, was all that remained of the beau ideal 
brave, Johnnie Clark, who paid the final penalty 
for his crimes in Boise City, Idaho. A woman 
claiming to be his sister came to Boise nearly 
a year previous to the sale in Portland, and after 
having his body exhumed, shipped it by a freight 
wagon to Umatilla Landing and the case being 
addressed "Portland, Oregon," it was forwarded 
there by some unknown person. The sister, if 
such she was, never appeared to claim the re- 
mains. 

Thus, as if pursued by a relentless Nemesis, 
it was seven years before the body of the mur- 
derer was permitted to rest undisturbed in an 
unknown and unmarked grave. Truly "the way 
of the transgressor is hard." 

A recital of the events which transpired in 
Boise and Payette valleys, during the period cov- 
ered by this narrative, makes it difficult to com- 
prehend that, with the exception of a very small 
per cent of the whole, the residents were as good 
men and women as could be found in any state 
in the Union; yet such was the case. In fact, 
the average man was better, for the reason that 
there were no drones among the better class of 
people; all were workers at some useful employ- 
ment. The foregoing conditions arose, not from 
immorality on the part of the majority, but from 



HUMAN LIVES IN THE BALANCE 253 

a cause peculiar to new mining countries remote 
from centers of population. The people were 
sojourners, rather than citizens; they did not 
come to stay, only to accumulate enough money 
to make a comfortable start in the country 
whence they came — many had left property be- 
hind them, when starting west, to which they 
intended to return. None at that time expected 
to live to see the desert plains of Idaho trans- 
formed into verdant fields dotted with beautiful 
homes. Consequently, as they considered their 
residence here but temporary, they had no de- 
sire to exercise the rights of citizenship and but 
few attended the primaries or conventions. 
Thus, without thought of the harm they were 
doing themselves and others, they permitted a 
few dangerous men to gain the offices, with the 
results heretofore enumerated. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

PLACERVILLE TRAGEDY. 

TF THE first settlers in Idaho had intended to 
*- remain and become permanent citizens, as 
many of them eventually concluded to do, and 
had directed their energies, not only to making 
money, but also to public affairs, including the 
election of good men to fill the offices, life and 
property might have been as safe from tjie be- 
ginning as in the older and well-regulated states 
and territories. In even the most desperate and 
lawless communities, where crime runs riot, it 
is almost invariably true that the disturbers con- 
stitute an insignificant minority of the whole; 
they simply are possessed of magnetic and phys- 
ical force sufficient to impress others with the 
erroneous idea that they are really the "whole 
thing." Their ability to impress a community 
with their numerical strength is usually equal, 
or superior, to that of the timber, or mountain 
wolf, one of which can start its calliope and in 
a few seconds convince the novice that the woods 
are alive with its kind. The ease and celerity 
with which the citizens of Boise and Payette 
valleys rid the country of bad men is proof of 
the analogy. 



PLACERVILLE TRAGEDY 255 

While the citizens of the valleys and out- 
lying districts in southern Idaho were solving 
the problems of establishing civil government in 
the manner related, Boise Basin, with its large 
and incongruous population, had also been en- 
gaged in making history. In the mining dis- 
tricts of not only Idaho, but all over the inter- 
mountain states, at the time to which this narra- 
tive relates, there were a number of men who 
were called "chiefs," their right to the distinction 
arising from being leaders in such dangerous and 
often sanguinary disputes as sometimes occurred 
in gambling houses and other disreputable re- 
sorts. The rank of these so-called chiefs was 
determined by the number of nicks or notches 
cut in the handle of their revolvers, the chief, 
or bravo, being entitled to add an additional nick 
for every man he killed. The following incident 
will give the reader a conception of the char- 
acter of this class of men. One afternoon during 
the summer of 1864, a pack-train of mules com- 
ing into the town of Placerville over the Center- 
ville road, skirted the north side of the plaza 
and passed on and out up Granite street. The 
owner of the animals, who was riding behind the 
train with one of his helpers, after passing the 
Magnolia saloon, turned his mule and rode to a 
public well, located in the center of the plaza. 
The well was equipped with a bucket and wind- 
lass. The packer, after alighting from his mule, 
drew a bucket of fresh water and after having 
regaled himself, proceeded to tighten the cinch 



256 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

of his saddle. There were three gamblers sitting 
in front of the Magnolia saloon when the pack- 
train passed through the plaza and they had been 
watching the owner while drawing the water and 
taking a drink. One of them arose and re- 
marked, "Watch me and see how I'll fix that fel- 
low." Saying which he walked to the well and 
picking up the bucket threw what remained in it 
after the man had satisfied his thirst, all over him. 
The packer reached for his holster as if with the 
intention of drawing his pistol; this action was 
anticipated by the gambler, who shot and killed 
his victim before the poor spluttering man with 
eyes, ears and nose filled with water could draw 
a weapon, and thus the victor of the drama was 
entitled to add another nick to its fellows on the 
butt of his revolver. 

The man who had thus distinguished himself 
immediately surrendered to the officers and on 
his request, a hearing was at once granted, at 
which his companions, to whom he had said 
"Watch me, and see how I will fix that fellow," 
appeared and testified that the shooting was done 
in self-defense, the packer having reached for his 
gun first. Their testimony being considered suf- 
ficient, the prisoner was discharged. Among the 
unwritten laws of the Universe is one which pre- 
scribes that, sooner or later, relentless Justice 
shall overtake and punish the transgressor who 
violates the commandment "Thou shalt not kill." 
Judges may be corrupt, juries may be venal, but 
a Nemesis pursues and retribution finally over- 



PLACERVILLE TRAGEDY 257 

takes the offender. The next summer after the 
killing of the packer the man who committed the 
murder accompanied a party of prospectors into 
the hills east and south of Boise, now known 
as the Neal district, and while in camp one day 
two Indians came in and presented an open 
letter showing that they were traveling on a 
permit from the governor of the territory, in 
search of a band of Bannocks whom the governor 
desired to come to Boise City and hold council 
with the purpose of preventing a threatened out- 
break. The Indians after a brief halt at the 
white men's camp took their departure, but- a 
few of those who were there when the Indians 
left were of the class often met on the frontier 
in former days, who held that the only good 
Indian was a dead one, among this number being 
the hero of the Placerville tragedy. Since the 
Indians were riding fine horses, they concluded 
to follow, and after making "good Indians" out 
of them, appropriate the animals and their 
equipment. Therefore, as soon as possible, they 
saddled their own mounts, which were picketed 
near camp, and started in pursuit. 

After a hard ride they came within hailing 
distance, and the Indians failing to halt when 
commanded to do so, their pursuers fired upon 
them, and a running fight ensued, the Indians 
finally making their escape, but in the excitement 
a shot-gun loaded with buck-shot was acciden- 
tally discharged, the load taking effect at short 
range in one of the limbs of the Placerville mur- 

17 E. H. I. 



258 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

derer, shattering his thigh bone. He was car- 
ried to Boise City, and after many weeks of 
terrible suifering, was removed to San Francisco. 
Whether he survived the accident was known to 
few if any of his former associates. 

Among those who posed as bad men in Pla- 
cerville at the time the foregoing tragedy was 
enacted, was an ex-colonel, who, it was said, had 
formerly served in the Confederate army. Seek- 
ing for an opportunity to distinguish himself by 
killing some one, he selected for a victim a man 
named Brown, commonly known as Butcher 
Brown, he having a meat-market or what was 
generally called a butcher shop, on the north 
side of the plaza. Being a cow-man, or drover, 
and dealer in cattle, he was interested in not 
only the Placerville market, but owned another 
in Centerville, besides supplying beef cattle to 
other butchers. He was a jovial, manly man, 
over six feet in height, with the form of an 
athlete, and having since boyhood followed the 
business of driving cattle north from Texas, was 
as familiar with the use of a Colt's revolver as 
a stock whip. His leading characteristic was an 
unbending and determined loyalty to the Ameri- 
can flag and the army that at that time carried 
it in the field. His well known prowess had ren- 
dered him immune in Idaho for more than a 
year after his arrival, when the colonel con- 
cluded to rid the country of the man, who enter- 
tained opinions opposed to those held by his alma 
mater — the Confederacy. His experience in war 



PLACERVILLE TRAGEDY 259 

had led the colonel to respect the poet who 
wrote "He who fights and runs away lives to 
fight another day," so after making arrangements 
for a speedy departure in case of need, he walked 
deliberately into the market and not finding- 
Brown in the front room, or stall, he went 
through to a back room which was used as an 
office, and here he found the object of his 
search, who was engaged in posting his books, 
using a common kitchen table for a desk, and 
sitting with his back turned toward the door. 
There being sawdust on the floor, the intruder's 
entrance gave no warning sounds, and as no 
words were spoken, the first intimation Brown 
had of the presence of any one in the room was 
the report of the colonel's revolver, instantly 
succeeded by two other shots fired at his back. 
After firing the last shot, the colonel, with the 
gun still smoking in his hand, turned and fled 
through the open door by which he entered. 

He ran down the street toward the livery 
stable where he had arranged for a horse to be 
saddled and in waiting. But only one of the 
shots fired by the assassin had taken effect, and 
the wound it produced proved to be only a flesh- 
wound. Though dazed by the suddenness of 
the attack and the smoke of the powder, it was 
perhaps less than a minute before the wounded 
man withdrew his long legs and number ten 
boots from under the table, and, straightening to 
his full height, he followed the fleeing wretch to 
the outer door, but before he reached the outside 



260 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

the colonel had gained a distance of nearly half 
a block, and was sprinting down the street be- 
tween the Magnolia saloon and Higbee's store. 
Upon reaching the sidewalk, Brown, for the first 
time since the shooting, began drawing his 
weapon, and fired. Firing but a single shot at 
his would-be murderer, he turned into his mar- 
ket, where a surgeon, attracted by the firing, 
arrived in time to dress his wounds. The shot 
fired after the retreating colonel had taken effect 
in his neck, but while his wound bled profusely 
it caused but temporary annoyance, and not 
being disabled he soon recovered his equanimity 
and strutted about the saloons with the assurance 
of one who had won an honorable victory. A 
few days later the would-be assassin was arrested 
and taken before a magistrate, who permitted 
him to plead to a simple assault for which he 
was sentenced to serve ninety days in the county 
jail, the sentence being suspended a few days 
later. 

It must not be thought that such events 
transpired without more than temporary notice, 
for they made a permanent and lasting impres- 
sion on the minds of all the residents who were 
engaged in legitimate pursuits until, finally, the 
social fabric in Boise Basin was like a slumbering 
volcano — liable to erupt at any moment. The 
manner in which the final eruption came will be 
told in a succeeding chapter. 



CHAPTER XV. 

EX-SHERIFF MURDERED. 

/ TT N HE discovery of new placer fields in British 
A Columbia and Oregon caused a large influx 
of miners and camp followers to flow into those 
regions during the years 1861-1862, taxing the 
steamers plying between San Francisco, Portland 
and Victoria, to their utmost capacity. On one 
of the regular voyages between the California 
port and the two last named cities, the 
passenger list, which was a large one, included a 
party of so-called sporting men and women, who, 
after the vessel had cleared the harbor and was 
fairly out at sea, took possession of the card- 
room and began to ply their trade, three-card 
monte and other games being introduced, while 
in the social saloon orgies were enacted which 
drove all the other passengers outside. Among 
these bacchanalians was a man named Patterson, 
who wore without attempt at concealment a large 
ivory-handled revolver and a formidable bowie- 
knife to match. 

He seemed to be the recognized leader of the 
party, and the woman who passed as his wife 
was equally as proficient as he in dealing three- 



262 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

card monte — which seemed to be their specialty. 
They were a couple to attract attention in any 
place. He was in height above six feet, with a 
well-knit muscular frame, weighing over two 
hundred pounds, without any appearance of be- 
ing stout or fleshy. He had sandy, or red hair, 
and a florid complexion, which bore marks of 
dissipation; heavy, bushy eyebrows partially con- 
cealed a pair of restless blue eyes, which never 
seemed to center on one object, but continually 
shifted as if expecting some kind of a hostile 
demonstration. He wore a pair of high-heeled 
boots, which fitted his shapely feet to, perfection, 
and a pair of plaid trousers which had been 
reinforced, or foxed, with buckskin, after the 
manner of similar garments worn by cavalrymen 
in our army. He also wore a cassimere shirt, a 
fancy silk vest, across the front of which dan- 
gled a heavy gold chain, made from specimens of 
native California gold. A long frock coat of 
heavy pilot-beaver cloth, trimmed with the fur 
of the sea-otter completed a wardrobe typical of 
the man who wore it. He was about forty years 
old, and being destined to play a prominent part 
in the then unborn history of Idaho, the fore- 
going description is given. 

The woman who claimed recognition as his 
wife was perhaps twenty-eight years of age, 
though dissipation and the continued use of cos- 
metics had caused her to appear older. She had 
a figure to which even the modern mantua- 
makers' art could add no line of symmetry, a 



EX-SHERIFF MURDERED 263 

brunette in complexion and in form a Venus, tall 
and willowy in her movements. Mate to such a 
man as Patterson, they were the observed among 
the observers. The steamer arrived abreast the 
Columbia river bar too late in the evening to 
cross in safety and the captain concluded to lie 
off and on till morning. Complaint was made to 
the officers of the ship during the night, by a 
committee of passengers, who demanded that 
the boisterous conduct and the profane language 
being used in the presence of ladies and children 
be stopped. Whereupon the captain visited the 
card-room, where he found the sporting fraternity 
assembled and addressing them courteously, re- 
quested that they retire, as the hour had arrived 
when the lights must be extinguished. To this 
request Patterson, who had probably been drink- 
ing more than was his usual custom, replied in 
an insulting manner, causing the captain to 
threaten to put him in irons if he did not behave. 
The party then dispersed, Patterson saying that 
he would see the captain after the ship landed 
in Portland. 

The vessel crossed the bar the following 
morning, and after discharging freight and a 
few passengers at Astoria, proceeded on its 
way up the river to Portland, arriving there 
during the night. After the ship was docked and 
secured in her berth, although the hour was late, 
the passengers, weary of being confined, went 
ashore and were soon distributed throughout the 
city. The following morning after the crew, 



264 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

under the direction of the second and third offi- 
cers, had begun to discharge the ship's cargo, 
the captain proceeded up town to call on some of 
his late passengers who had gone to the Cosmo- 
politan Hotel. That old time hostelry was then 
the best in the city of Portland, or for that mat- 
ter, on the northwest coast, and stood on the 
north side of Stark street between Front street 
and the river. The main entrance was into the 
office, or large reception room, which occupied 
the first or ground floor fronting on Stark and 
Front streets. There being no hall or elevator, 
access to the hotel parlor, which was located on 
the second floor, was gained by ascending a 
broad spiral stairway which arose from the 
office floor; hence no visitor or guest could come 
or go without their movements being noted by 
the bookkeeper or landlord, one of whom was 
always present. The captain, after arriving at 
the hotel, sent his cards to those he desired to 
see, and was at once shown up to the hotel parlor. 
A few minutes later Patterson entered the office 
door and proceeding to the clerk's desk inquired 
for the captain and upon being told that he had 
gone up stairs but would soon come down, he 
took a seat directly opposite the stairway, remark- 
ing that he would wait. But a short time elapsed 
before the captain and the friend he had called 
to see, appeared at the upper landing of the 
stairway, and after good-bye had been said, he 
began to descend. Patterson had been watching 
the parting of the friends from where he sat, 



EX-SHERIFF MURDERED 265 

and when the captain had descended about half 
way down the stairs, he arose and shot him dead, 
the limp body bumping from step to step until 
it reached the office floor. The murderer sur- 
rendered to a policeman, who entered at the 
moment the shot was fired, but too late to prevent 
the tragedy. It has often been said that none 
other than Deity can foretell the verdict of a 
jury, and such was the case in the trial which 
followed the death of the captain. He was 
shot by a ruffian in revenge for an imaginary in- 
sult and a jury of "good men and true" exoner- 
ated the murderer and turned him loose on so- 
ciety to seek other victims, the first of whom 
was the woman he had flaunted as his wife on 
the incoming voyage of the steamer. Suspecting 
her of disloyalty, he became enraged, and seizing 
in one hand the coil in which she always wore 
her hair, drew his bowie-knife, which was as 
sharp as a razor, with the other, and attempted 
to cut it off close to her head at one stroke, but 
aiming too low, when the hair came off in his 
hand a large piece of scalp clung to it. A po- 
liceman, hearing the woman scream, entered the 
house and placed the offender under arrest. 
Again Patterson was in the hands of the Port- 
land authorities, and again as quickly released. 
He then made his final departure from Oregon, 
vowing vengeance on the officer who had arrested 
him for scalping the woman. The foregoing 
biographical sketch is pertinent to this narrative 
only for the reason that its hero, Patterson, after 



266 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

leaving Oregon went direct to Idaho, where he 
soon became a prominent luminary among the 
bravos who controlled the body politic of that 
territory for years. 

One of the characteristics peculiar to all 
communities alike, is that there are but few 
men who are willing to take the risk of inter- 
fering with the riotous actions of characters 
such as are sometimes found in frontier towns, 
not alone in mining districts, but in all others, 
where the surrounding country is sparsely set- 
tled. The men to whom I refer are by nature 
divided into two classes, both of which believe 
it to be the acme of human enjoyment to load up 
with "red liquor'' and proceed to terrorize the 
inhabitants. They generally go on their period- 
ical debauches in parties of three or more, and in 
towns where, as is often the case, only a city 
marshal with one assistant is employed, the 
rioters generally run their course. 

The difference which distinguishes the 
classes mentioned is so pronounced as to be read- 
ily recognized, one class being composed of young 
men of the cow-boy order, whose talent runs to 
riding wild horses, drinking the before-mentioned 
"red liquor" and firing off their pistols; using as 
targets the lamps in saloons, dance-halls and like 
places. These sportive ones are really not bad 
men, they simply pose as such; but when they 
start in to amuse themselves, a cyclone cellar, 
such as are found in Nebraska and South Dakota, 
would be a desirable annex to the average resi- 



EX-SHERIFF MURDERED 267 

dence, as the bullets discharged by these hilar- 
ious gentlemen sometimes puncture the walls of 
houses, greatly to the alarm of the occupants. 
They do not intend to fatally injure anyone, al- 
though accidents on such occasions have some- 
times occurred. They are similar to the old- 
fashioned alarm clock that when it once went 
off, or started to strike, could not be stopped un- 
til it ran down, and the average marshal is 
powerless to check the festivities of this class 
of fellows until their steam is exhausted. 

The other class is composed of men who, 
when aroused to a certain pitch by drink, start 
on a carousal not for fun, not merely to intimi- 
date and drive off the streets and thoroughfares 
the residents, but generally with the well-digested 
purpose of using as a target for pistol-practice, 
not lamps, as do the others, but the anatomy of 
some one who has become offensive by non-con- 
currence with their methods. When this class 
of men start on a rampage, their numbers may 
not exceed two or three individuals; yet their 
purpose being usually well known, and the danger 
of interference so thoroughly understood that 
seldom does anyone interpose to protect their 
intended victim — nor is it to be wondered at, as 
interposition would probably mean death to the 
intruder. Thus it was and is, even today a few 
desperate men can terrorize an entire mining 
camp or frontier town. But their reign is usu- 
ally short, for emboldened by continued immu- 
nity, they at length commit some crowning act 



268 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

that arouses the indignation of all good men and 
most men are good. When such a time arrives 
the voice of the people becomes the voice of God 
and the agents of the devil had better take no- 
tice. 

From the time the first county officers were 
appointed in Boise county, until after Lee's sur- 
render at Appomatox, civil government presented 
a strange anomaly. The territory, for judicial 
purposes, was divided into three districts, to 
each of which was appointed a judge by the 
then president of the United States, Abraham 
Lincoln, and for the territory at large was ap- 
pointed a United States marshal, who in turn 
appointed a deputy in each judicial district. The 
officers thus appointed were Union men, while 
the sheriffs and their deputies, as well as all 
other elective officers in the territory, were usu- 
ally adverse to the government and the laws 
which they were expected to enforce. Especially 
was this true in Boise county, which embraced 
Boise Basin. 

To the fact that no fellow-feeling, no commu- 
nity of political and social interest existed be- 
tween the judge on the bench and the elective of- 
ficers of his court may be attributed at least in 
part the failure in most cases to even bring to 
trial those who had taken or attempted to take 
the lives of their fellow-men; and in the few 
cases where such offenders were brought to trial, 
juries were summoned at least a part of whom 
considered the offense for which the prisoner was 



EX-SHERIFF MURDERED 269 

being tried an act deserving of commendation 
rather than punishment. As evidence of this 
condition of affairs, the case of James Pinney, 
the first postmaster in Idaho City, may be quot- 
ed. Pinney was a quiet, unobtrusive young man, 
considerate of the feelings of others, yet he was 
shot at his place of business, miraculously escap- 
ing death, the would-be assassin escaping the 
punishment his act justly merited. 

There were in Boise county during the fore- 
going period a few men who were as staunch and 
loyal to the government as others were disloyal; 
men who never hesitated to declare themselves 
and who always were prepared to meet emergen- 
cies as they might arise; men who, in fact, 
courted the danger of conflict. Prominent among 
this class was a man named Pinkham, who was 
the first sheriff by appointment in Boise county, 
serving only until an election was held and his 
successor qualified. He was one of Nature's no- 
blemen, six feet two inches tall, with the frame 
of an athlete. Although he was yet in the prime 
of vigorous manhood, his hair and beard were al- 
most snow-white, while his cheeks were as rosy 
as a boy's. Not only physically, but mentally, 
he was a leader among men, and although he had 
been marked from the first for the bullet of an 
assassin, the seasons there as elsewhere came 
and went for more than two years before a man 
could be found to undertake the desperate enter- 
prise. Finally, Ferd Patterson who had gained 
notoriety in Portland, Oregon, by killing the cap- 



270 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

tain of the steamship and scalping his erstwhile 
mistress, and who had been a sojourner in Idaho 
since that time, expressed a willingness to add 
another nick to the handle of his revolver by 
killing Pinkham, provided the "boys" would stand 
in and secure his acquittal by being present when 
the killing occurred and testifying afterward 
that Pinkham drew his weapon first, or attempted 
to do so, thus showing that Patterson acted in 
self-defense. 

An arrangement was accordingly made one 
Sunday during the forenoon, accompanied by 
those who were to appear at the anticipated 
trial, Patterson went down to the Warm 
Springs, a bathing resort located on the Boise 
City stage road about one mile below Idaho City. 
Prior to their starting, however, they knew that 
Pinkham had been invited to ride down to the 
Springs by a Boise City man who was there with 
a team and buggy. As he had planned, Patter- 
son and party arrived first at the Springs. At 
once they repaired to the bar-room where liquors 
were dispensed. 

The building in which the bath rooms were 
located was erected above the road on ground 
which sloped into the gulch, or ravine, which 
carried into Moore's Creek the overflow from a 
large hot spring, which flowed out of the side 
of a steep hill above. Along the front of the 
house which was the end of the building, ran a 
porch, or piazza, and it being elevated above the 
ground except at one end, was surrounded 



EX-SHERIFF MURDERED 271 

by a railing as a precaution against accidents, 
while entrance to the house was made via 
the porch, access to which was gained by 
means of a short flight of steps at the end where 
it was near the ground. The room which was 
entered from the porch was used as a bar-room 
and a door in the rear of this room opened into 
a hall which extended the entire length of the 
building, and on both sides of the hall were bath 
rooms, while above the house on the hillside was 
a swimming pond filled with warm water. 

The foregoing explanation of the premises 
is necessary that the future reader who may not 
have visited this resort will more fully under- 
stand the tragedy which was enacted there. When 
the buggy in which Pinkham rode arrived at the 
Springs he alighted and entering the bar-room 
found Patterson and his party there. Having 
had no previous intimation of their presence, 
accustomed as he was to the methods of Patter- 
son and his friends, it doubtess flashed on his 
mind in an instant that the crowd was there to 
murder him. Patterson began an attempt to start 
a quarrel, but Pinkham, realizing that he was 
alone, among unscrupulous enemies, would not 
be drawn into a difficulty and remarking "That's 
all right, Patterson," brushed past him and en- 
tered one of the small bath-rooms and closed the 
door. Patterson and his friends soon afterwards 
went out through the hall, and on up to the 
swimming pond, where they all proceeded to 
take a swim. 



272 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

Patterson related the succeeding events to a 
friend who made the story public after those 
who were parties to the affair left the country. 

Patterson said that he and his companions 
were so long in the swimming pond that he 
thought Pinkham would be gone before they re- 
turned to the bar-room, and he hoped he was 
gone, as he knew that if he did not continue his 
efforts to force a quarrel the men who were with 
him would think he had weakened, and he said 
that he knew that if a quarrel was precipitated, 
he must get Pinkham quickly, or Pinkham would 
get him; so upon entering the hall he drew his 
revolver and carried it cocked in his hand as he 
entered the bar-room, and Pinkham not being 
there, he walked directly to the open door leading 
to the porch, and found Pinkham standing wait- 
ing for the hack which conveyed passengers to 
and from the Springs; raising his pistol, he said, 

"Will you draw, you Abolition son of a b ?" 

And as Pinkham turned his side toward him he 
fired. The smoke of his pistol, he said, partially 
obscured his view, and dropping on one knee, he 
leveled the pistol across his arm and fired the sec- 
ond shot, both bullets taking effect, although the 
first shot caused a mortal wound. Pinkham in- 
stinctively reached for and drew his weapon, 
evidently cocking it by the same motion, and as 
he was falling, it discharged into the ceiling. The 
murdered man fell to the floor and immediately 
expired. Thus was completed the mission on 
which they came. 




*&%r* 



EX-SHERIFF MURDERED 273 

Arrangements having been made for his 
speedy departure, Patterson at once mounted a 
horse and started to leave the country, but Pink- 
ham's former deputy, Rube Robbins, followed by 
the sheriff, were soon in pursuit, and the mur- 
derer was overhauled by Rube who came up on 
him first before half the distance to Boise valley 
was covered. His arrest was accomplished with- 
out difficulty, when, joined by the sheriff, they 
started back to Idaho City, and making a detour 
to avoid difficulty with a large force of miners 
who had assembled and were threatening to hang 
Patterson, they arrived at the county jail and 
succeeded in placing him behind the bars without 
interference, although at least a thousand men 
were clamoring for his blood. 

But the danger-point had been reached. 
Meetings were quietly assembled in all the min- 
ing towns for several successive nights and cour- 
iers were kept continually on the move, carrying- 
news from one point to another. Men gathered 
in whispering groups on the hillsides and in the 
miners' cabins. A spirit of mystery and secrecy 
pervaded the atmosphere, culminating finally in 
a delegation from all the mining towns being sent 
to Idaho City for the purpose of holding a con- 
ference, looking to the organization of a vigilance 
committee similar to that which had accom- 
plished such effective work in the Payette valley. 
The conference was held in a large fire-proof 
cellar used for storage purposes, and it was con- 
cluded that before perfecting an organization a 

1 8 E. H. I. 



274 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

messenger should be sent to the captain of the 
Payette Vigilance Committee, and if possible, 
secure his attendance at a subsequent meeting 
which would be called in Idaho City at such time 
as would be convenient for him to attend. Orlan- 
do Robbins, or Rube Robbins, as he was gener- 
ally known, was accordingly dispatched to find 
the captain and if possible persuade him to come 
to Idaho City at once. Robbins was successful 
in his mission and two days afterward returned 
with his man. 

Arrangements were at once made for a meet- 
ing consisting of a few reliable men to be held 
the succeeding night in the fire-proof cellar which 
had heretofore been used for meetings. >As se- 
crecy was to be observed until an organization 
was perfected the cellar was wisely chosen. Ten 
o'clock that night was the hour named, and when 
the time arrived approximately two score of the 
most prominent men in the Basin were present, 
to whom was introduced the captain, who upon 
being informed of the object of the gathering, at 
the request of the chairman, gave those present 
an outline of the constitution and by-laws of the 
Payette committee, stating that it was the fault 
of the citizens of Boise Basin that conditions 
such as had heretofore prevailed were allowed to 
continue. In the aggregate the men who had 
committed all the crimes in* Idaho were few in 
numbers, and he thought the time had arrived 
for the people to put a stop to such atrocious 
murders as had been of frequent occurrence 



EX-SHERIFF MURDERED 275 

in the past. He stated that as the first object of 
the proposed organization was the punishment of 
Patterson, the murderer of Pinkham, he would 
like to be present when that event took place, 
and assured them that while his own affairs 
would prevent him from becoming a member of 
their organization, he would come to Idaho City 
at any time on receiving notice that they were 
ready to act. 

The meeting then proceeded to organize on 
the same lines as the Payette committee had fol- 
lowed, adopting for its name "The Idaho City 
Vigilance Committee." A blacksmith who had a 
shop on Buena Vista Bar was chosen as captain, 
and an executive committee of five elected who 
were to have entire control of the organization, 
issuing their orders direct to the captain whose 
duty it was made to carry them out. A com- 
mittee on enrollment was also appointed, the duty 
of which was to enroll as members all persons 
who would be willing to act with the organiza- 
tion in suppressing crime and punishing mur- 
derers and robbers. 

At the meeting a Methodist minister presided 
and none of those present ever forgot his open- 
ing address; and while the average minister is 
generally considered out of place in mining 
camps where the Sabbath is respected no more 
than any other day, his bold stand in favor of 
suppressing the lawless class did more to elevate 
the churches in the minds of his hearers than 
all the sermons they were likely to hear. Among 



276 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

other things he said "He could fight or he could 
pray, as occasion required." The man was Rev- 
erend Kingsley, who became a permanent resi- 
dent of Idaho and lived many years of usefulness 
to his fellows and when his final call came took 
his departure, loved and respected by all. 

Two weeks were consumed in preparation, at 
the end of which time a membership of nine 
hundred were enrolled. Among the number were 
two men who had served in the navy and were 
familiar with explosives. They were detailed to 
prepare a number of hand-grenades which were 
intended to demolish the gates of the prison. It 
had been determined by the executive committee 
that the entire force would advance to the door 
of the jail where Patterson was confined and de- 
mand that he be delivered up to them, and if 
denial was made then the walls were to be scaled 
and the place captured by assault. 

For the purpose of carrying out the fore- 
going plan, the members were notified to appear 
fully armed at the city cemetery at two o'clock 
on a morning named, it being the object to ad- 
vance on the jail at daybreak. The cemetery 
was located but a short distance above the jail 
but it was doubtless chosen as a rendezvous not 
sclely on account of its contiguity to the object of 
their attack. The leaders apparently counted on 
the effect which the newly-made graves, and they 
were all comparatively new, would have on the 
friends of the murdered men who slept beneath 
those sodless mounds, as it was well known to 



EX-SHERIFF MURDERED 277 

the executive committee that many of those who 
slept their last sleep in that hallowed ground had 
died from the knife or bullet of an assassin, and 
from the hearts of a hundred friends, those who 
were assembled in the haze of that star-lit morn- 
ing, meeting around those silent mounds, arose a 
cry for vengeance. At least an hour before the 
time named in the call the men, in groups of two, 
three or more, began to arrive, and by two o'clock 
nine hundred men were on the ground awaiting 
the order to advance, while on the side nearest to 
the jail, an emergency field hospital was impro- 
vised, with two surgeons in attendance, showing 
that the serious nature of this enterprise was 
fully understood by all. 

The assembling of so many men could not be 
accomplished secretly even in the night time — in 
a place like Idaho City, where many of the inhab- 
itants were night-hawks, men who worked on 
the night shift, and, while doing so, worked the 
other fellow. Consequently, as so many men 
were noticed slipping out in little groups, it was 
readily surmised that their object was an attack 
on the jail, so the sheriff was at once apprised. 
It is more than probable that the news of the 
intended movement had leaked, and that he was 
informed in advance. Consequently, in line with 
his duty, he had garrisoned the jail with prac- 
tically all the thugs and tin-horn gamblers in the 
city, and was prepared to defend his prisoner, 
Patterson. Thus a comical side was presented by 
even the serious condition that existed at that 



278 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

moment, and this was, that the majority of the 
men whom the sheriff had engaged as defenders 
of the jail, and consequently of the law, were 
many of them, for the first time in their lives, 
its defenders. But the sheriff was unquestionably 
right in employing such help as was at hand, it 
being clearly his duty, as an officer of the law, to 
protect his prisoner. 

The men who were expected to defend the 
jail from assault were ensconced behind its walls 
and were provided with arms, besides, judging 
by the yells and pistol shots, they were also fur- 
nished an ample supply of nerve tonic, "the cup 
that cheers." Immediately prior to the time set 
for the advance, a man who had been reclining 
on the ground, well to the rear of the others, 
arose, and threading his way carefully toward 
the center of the cemetery, mounted a log and 
in a voice that could be distinctly heard by all 
present, said, "Gentlemen: You all know me — 
at least by reputation; I am the man whom the 
Payette Vigilance Committee calls captain; I am 
here tonight upon invitation of your executive 
committee. Up to the present time I have taken 
no part in advising, or managing your affairs, 
but the time has arrived when human lives are 
in the balance, and I feel that although there are 
many older and, doubtless wiser men. here than 
I, yet I feel that at this critical moment that it 
is due you that I should express my views, and 
whether you concur with me or not, my duty so 
far shall have been performed. 



EX-SHERIFF MURDERED 279 

"You have assembled here for the purpose 
of demanding from the sheriff and his deputies 
in charge of the jail, their prisoner, Patterson, 
your object being not only to punish him for the 
murder of Pinkham, but in so doing, impress 
upon the lawless classes the certainty that, here- 
after, no murderer shall escape. The only object 
you could have in assembling here in the night 
and advancing on the jail at daybreak was that 
you might surprise the guard and capture them 
without resistance, but as is evident, your plans 
are known and the sheriff has made provisions 
for the defense of his charge. You can storm the 
place and take it by assault, but in so doing many 
lives will be lost, and I cannot see the philosophy 
of sacrificing perhaps forty or fifty good men's 
lives to hang one criminal. A mistake has been 
made in calling out so many men; I can take 
Idaho City with ten men; I would go through it 
like a cyclone, and take whomever I wanted." 

Some one in the crowd immediately spoke 
up and said "That is the man for our captain." 
The words were scarcely uttered when they were 
repeated by hundreds of voices. The man who 
had been in charge up to this time was a black- 
smith who worked at his trade on Buena Vista 
Bar. He at once came forward and asked the 
Payette visitor to take charge, stating that he 
was "not qualified for such work." 

To this he replied: "Gentlemen, under the 
circumstances I will assume the responsibility 
and issue my first orders now. They are that 



280 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

you all go home. When I want any of you, I 
shall let you know. Before you separate, how- 
ever, I desire to say that Patterson killed my 
friend, and the earth is not big enough to hide 
his murderer." 

The crowd at once began to disperse, and 
when day dawned there was no evidence that 
such a gathering had taken place, except the 
trampled weeds and ground in the cemetery. 

Thus ended the first crisis in the history of 
Idaho. Had an attack been made on the pris- 
on many lives would have been lost in the battle 
that would have followed, and it would not have 
ended until vengeance had been wreaked upon 
every man in Boise Basin who had unlawfully 
taken human life. 

It was Saturday morning when the gather- 
ing dispersed. During the day following business 
was practically suspended. Men gathered in 
groups in the streets and in the miners' cabins, 
the one subject of their discussion being what 
was likely to occur now that a new leader had 
been chosen. It was generally believed that a 
way would be found to punish Patterson, but 
how was it to be accomplished? No one seemed 
to be informed on that subject. 

During the day warrants were issued for 
the arrest of Rube Robbins, Elder Kingsley and 
one other, and they were placed under arrest. It 
was generally believed that the arrests were made* 
under the impression that the new captain would 
undertake to rescue the prisoners, in which event 



EX-SHERIFF MURDERED 281 

it was probably planned that he would be shot 
by some one concealed for the purpose. But he 
paid no attention to the matter, in fact did not 
appear in the crowd that immediately gathered. 
The prisoners were at once paroled by the federal 
judge who was in the city. Thus, under high 
tension, passed that day and the succeeding night. 
That the leader had formulated some plan which 
was known to not more than two or three per- 
sons, was considered certain. But what was the 
plan? All was shrouded in mystery. Sunday 
afternoon he and Rube Robbins appeared on the 
street, both mounted, and rode across to Buena 
Vista Bar and down the road past the warm 
springs toward Boise City — the cynosure of all 
eyes. Soon afterward a group of miners and 
others began to assemble at the blacksmith shop 
on Buena Vista Bar, owned by the former cap- 
tain, and when the assemblage had grown to 
such a size as to attract attention, the sheriff 
approached and demanded that they disperse 
within thirty minutes, or he would arrest them 
all. 

They were doing nobody any harm, being 
merely there on the public road, each one being 
intent to learn all he could concerning the prob- 
able outcome of the pending difficulty. Some of 
those present were doubtless members of the 
Idaho City Vigilance Committee, but many were 
not, and as the observations of all alike had 
caused them to have but little respect for sheriffs 
and their deputies as peace officers, they did not 



282 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

propose to be ordered off the public highway, or 
arrested, because they did not see fit to go. So 
they at once began the erection of barricades 
along ditches that crossed near the shop. John 
C. Henly, an attorney, happening along on horse- 
back, took in the situation at a glance, and at 
once galloped down the road after Robbins and 
the captain. Fortunately, he met them on their 
way back to town, and spurring up their horses, 
they were soon at the scene of the proposed hos- 
tilities. From here could be seen the sheriff and 
his deputies assembling their forces on a sawdust 
pile near the jail, preparatory to making a 
descent on the miners. Attracted by the unusual 
sight of a large force of men tearing down ricks 
of cordwood and building barricades, many per- 
sons had congregated, who knew nothing about 
the approaching conflict. Among this number 
was a company from Payette Valley, consisting 
of, approximately, twenty men, all of whom were 
members of the Payette Vigilance Committee, 
who had come to Idaho City to look for their 
captain, fearing something had happened to him. 
On their arrival they had placed their saddle ani- 
mals in a feed-yard and started out in quest of 
the object of their search, arriving at Buena 
Vista Bar in time to meet him at the barricade. 
A hurried conference followed, in which he re- 
quested them to take no part in the coming con- 
flict, if one occurred, but to remain where they 
were, and they would probably see the prettiest 
fight they had ever witnessed. He told them his 



EX-SHERIFF MURDERED 283 

plan was to draw his men off to the other side of 
Moore Creek and take possession of a large dry 
ditch which girdled an ox-bow point, and there 
make a stand, since the ditch was a breastwork 
already prepared, and, furthermore, if a battle 
ensued, it was far enough removed from town or 
dwelling houses to insure the safety of non-com- 
batants. He would listen to no remonstrance, 
but turning from them to the trenches and bar- 
ricade, sang out, "Boys, this is no place to make 
a stand; I will show you a better one; follow 
me," and immediately started across the creek 
bottom for the ditch on the opposite side. Ar- 
riving there he instantly threw his men into 
line and dividing them into three squads, plac- 
ing Rube Robbins in charge of one, and Al Hawk 
another, while he took command of the third, 
placing them in front at the apex of the bend, 
sending Rube to guard one flank with his men 
and Hawk the other. By the time these dispo- 
sitions were made the sheriff had started his 
men on the double quick from where they were 
assembled, to make an attack. When they 
reached Moore Creek they were halted by the 
captain, and told "if they had an officer to send 
him forward to talk matters over, and if not, 
they had best come no nearer." A man who 
was mounted on a horse at once rode out and 
across to where the captain stood awaiting him, 
and on gaining speaking distance, exclaimed, 
"The only terms I have to propose to you is that 
you stack your arms and disperse, or the last 



284 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

divvil of you will be kilt." To this salutation the 

captain responded: "The h you say. What 

is your name?" the answer being, "My name is 
German; I am under-sheriff." The captain then 
said : "Mr. German, you had better return to the 
ranks; you and I cannot settle anything — send 
your chief up here. I will talk to him." Mr. 
German quickly complied with the suggestion, 
and within a few minutes the sheriff approached, 
exclaiming as he came near, "My God, cannot 
this be stopped?" To this the captain replied, 
"It is stopped. I've stopped right here. Don't 
you think I've got a good place? If you had 
wanted to arrest me, or any of my men, we re- 
spect your duty as an officer, and would submit 
to your authority, as was done yesterday; or, if 
you had needed a posse, and had secured one 
composed of respectable citizens, I or any of 
my men would surrender to you, but instead 
of such a posse, you come with all the cut- 
throats in the country." To this the sheriff 
answered that "when he chose men with a fight 
in view, he picked fighting men." The captain 
replied that there had always been a doubt in 
his mind "as to whether blow-hards and mur- 
derers could fight better than decent men. We 
have a chance to settle the matter now. The re- 
sponsibility rests upon you — fire the first gun 
and not a man of you will ever cross that bar 
alive." 

The sheriff then proposed that "they all de- 
liver up their arms to him, and he would pledge 



EX-SHERIFF MURDERED 285 

his word of honor that in thirty days they would 
be returned, and the men could all go home/' 
The captain in reply said, "I have a very pretty 
gun here; it was sent me by a friend in Center- 
ville when he learned that these boys had chosen 
me to be their captain. He thought, when he 
sent me the gun, that I would not surrender it 
while I lived, and he was not the least bit mis- 
taken. 

"You have sent Holbrook around with a 
body of men to get in my rear, and I have sent 
some boys over there who will hurt him, and we 
shall be obliged to hold another election. You 
had better send men to call him off at once, and 
you go back to town with all your force, and try 
to make them behave. I am not going to attack 
your jail. You may rest easy on that score — for 
I would not sacrifice the life of even one man for 
the sake of hanging a murderer. You may give 
Patterson his trial without hindrance, and, since 
the evidence has been arranged to secure his 
acquittal, he can go forth into the world, but the 
world is not big enough to hide him." Thus 
ended the second crisis. The sheriff withdrew 
his force and left the captain and his men in 
undisputed possession of the field. 

A calamity was happily averted, for, had a 
single hostile shot been fired that day, the few 
decent men who were with the sheriff's party 
would have paid the penalty for being in bad 
company, because it would have been impossible, 
in the battle which would have ensued, to dis- 



286 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

tinguish them from their allies; and as a force 
even larger than that with the captain had as- 
sembled on Buena Vista Bar, and joined the 
company from the Payette, the sheriff's force 
would have been between two fires — meaning 
their total extermination. The promise made to 
the sheriff, not to attack the jail and allow the 
trial to proceed, became generally known during 
that and the following day, hence the excitement 
subsided and business was resumed. 

A short time afterward court convened and 
the trial of Patterson began, culminating, as he 
had prearranged, in his acquittal. That he would 
evenutally receive punishment for his crimes 
merited, no one doubted; but when or where he 
was to pay the extreme penalty was known only 
to the executive officers. He took his departure 
from Idaho City soon after his acquittal, going to 
Walla Walla, where there happened to be, at the 
time of his arrival, the man who was on the 
police force in Portland when Patterson scalped 
his paramour, and whom he had threatened to 
kill for arresting him. The ex-policeman having 
faith in Patterson's intent, as well as ability to 
keep pledges of that character, was on the look- 
out for him, and seeing him enter a barber-shop 
soon after his arrival in Walla Walla, followed 
him in, and finding Patterson seated in a barber- 
chair, shot and killed him instantly — after the 
same manner he had been in the habit of killing 
his victims. Thus ended a career of crime, re- 
lieving the Idaho City committee of the task they 
had set for themselves. 



EX-SHERIFF MURDERED 287 

The writer of the foregoing narrative was 
the captain of the Payette Vigilance Committee, 
hence he was in a position to know the details of 
what transpired during those turbulent days and 
nights. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

CALEB LYON APPOINTED GOVERNOR OF IDAHO. 

February 26, 186Jf. 

r^ ALEB LYON, of Lyonsdale, New York, was 
^^ appointed Governor of Idaho Territory, 
February 26, 1864, to fill the vacancy caused by 
the resignation of Governor Wallace, who was 
elected Delegate to Congress at the preceding 
election. 

Governor Lyon did not arrive in Idaho to 
assume the duties of his office for several months 
after his appointment. 

He was a man endowed with more than the 
average intellect, and was possessed of scholarly 
attainments. But, unfortunately for his own 
peace of mind, and the success of his adminis- 
tration, he could not appreciate and conform to 
the American doctrine that "all men are created 
equal." He insisted on wearing clean linen, 
taking a bath, and even, on state occasions, wear- 
ing a dress suit. In fact, he was the first indi- 
vidual who had the temerity to appear at a 
society function in Boise City in a swallow-tail 
coat. It was even hinted that he wore suspen- 
ders. 

Of course such eccentricities did not meet 
the approval of the majority of the male popula- 



CALEB LYON APPOINTED GOVERNOR 289 

tion, whose wardrobe consisted of less pre- 
tentious but more serviceable garments — men who 
took a bath only when necessity compelled them 
to swim a river. , 

Governor Lyon was a prominent citizen and 
politician in his home state — New York — but he 
was not the type of man needed to guide the des- 
tinies of a new territory such as Idaho was at 
the time of his appointment. He doubtless did 
the best he could, knowing nothing and learning 
nothing of either the territory or its inhabitants 
during his incumbency of the governor's office. 

The following Thanksgiving proclamation 
will convey a very good idea of the style of Gov- 
ernor Lyon: 

"THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION." 

" Thanksgiving let us give to the King of Kings, 
and the Lord of Lords, for the foundation, pre- 
servation and perpetuation of the government of 
the United States against the manifold schemes 
of wicked men, the attacks of open enemies, and 
the machinations of secret foes. 

"Thanksgiving let us give to the God of Bat- 
tles, who holds the destiny of nations in the hol- 
low of His hand, for victories upon the land, and 
for victories upon the sea, and for blessings of 
uninterrupted health, and fruitful harvests, dur- 
ing a time of great national anxiety and trouble. 

"Thanksgiving let us give to the God of Mer- 
cies for healing the wounded, comforting the 
sick and imprisoned, consoling the widows and 

19 E. H. I. 



290 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

the fatherless, and delivering those that were in 
bondage. 

"In concord with the recommendation of the 
President of the United States, I, Caleb Lyon, of 
Lyonsdale, Governor of the Territory of Idaho, 
hereby appoint Thursday, November twenty- 
fourth, as a day of thanksgiving and praise, and 
truly commend its observance. 

"In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my 
hand, and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of 
the Territory of Idaho. 

(Seal). "Done at Lewiston, this fifteenth 

day of November, A. D. 1864, and in the year of 
the independence of the United States the 
eighty-ninth. 

"CALEB LYON, OF LYONSDALE. 

"By the Governor, 

"SILAS D. COCHRAN, Acting Secretary: 9 

The conditions under which Idaho was set- 
tled were peculiar. Owing to its isolation, those 
who came first, in consequence of the discoveries 
of placer gold, did not intend to remain longer 
than the short time they thought would be neces- 
sary to make what money they needed, a fortune, 
and the standard by which wealth was guaged, 
in those days, was not so high as it became later. 
During the summer of 1864 and 1865, there was 
a population of perhaps twenty-five thousand 
people in Boise Basin, and I believe I can safely 
say that none of them intended to remain as 
permanent residents. Approximately the same 



CALEB LYON APPOINTED GOVERNOR 291 

was true of the people in Boise City, and the 
valleys tributary thereto. 

Even the territorial officers and delegates to 
congress made no secret of their intention to 
make their sojourn brief. 

The two first sessions of the Idaho territorial 
legislature were held in Lewiston before the cap- 
ital was located, and then it was fixed in Boise, 
but it was not until 1885 that a capitol building 
was erected. Up to that time there was no per- 
manent depository for the records of the differ- 
ent departments. The first records made were 
kept in Lewiston until the capital was located in 
Boise and then, what were not lost, were re- 
moved to that city. There the territory owned 
no buildings, and they were, together with those 
accumulated during a period of many years be- 
fore the capitol building was built, moved 
around from one building to another, as quar- 
ters could be rented. Take the foregoing into 
consideration, with the further fact that as soon 
as one officer, or set of officers, vacated to make 
place for their successors, those who retired 
from the office usually retired from the territory, 
and it is not to be wondered that many of the 
records of the early proceedings are not to be 
found among the archives of the state. 

Especially are some of the early journals 
and session laws missing, and at most there are 
but few copies now in existence. Hence, as a 
matter of interest, as well as showing the kind 
of men who composed the early legislative bodies 



292 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

of Idaho, I will refer briefly to some of the 
"bills, memorials and documents." 

The exigencies of the times caused Congress 
to enact the following: 

AN ACT 
To Prescribe an Oath of Office, and for Other 
Purposes. 
Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and 
House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, that hereafter 
every person elected or appointed to any office 
of honor or profit under the government of the 
United States, either in the civil, military or 
naval departments of the public service, except- 
ing the President of the United States, shall, 
before entering upon the duties of such office, 
and before being entitled to any of the salary or 
other emoluments thereof, take and subscribe to 
the following oath, or affirmation : 

"I, A. B., do solemnly swear, or affirm, that 
I have never voluntarily borne arms against the 
United States since I have been a citizen thereof, 
that I have voluntarily given no aid, countenance, 
counsel or encouragement to persons engaged in 
armed hostility thereto; that I have neither 
sought nor accepted, nor attempted to exercise 
the functions of any office whatever, under any 
authority or pretended authority in hostility to 
the United States; that I have not yielded a 
voluntary support to any pretended government, 
authority, power or constitution within the 
United States, hostile or inimical thereto. 



CALEB LYON APPOINTED GOVERNOR 293 

"And I further swear (or affirm) that, to 
the best of my knowledge and ability, I will sup- 
port and defend the Constitution of the United 
States against all enemies foreign and domestic, 
that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the 
same; that I take this obligation freely, without 
any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, 
and that I will well and faithfully discharge the 
duties of the office which I am about to enter, so 
help me God," which said oath so taken and 
signed, shall be preserved among the court, house 
of congress or departments records, to which 
the said office may appertain. And any person 
who shall falsely take the said oath shall be 
guilty of perjury, and on conviction, in addition 
to the penalties now prescribed for that offense, 
shall be deprived of his office and rendered in- 
capable forever after of holding any office or 
place under the United States. 
Approved July 2, 1862. 

Not to be outdone in loyalty to the govern- 
ment, the territorial legislature at its first ses- 
sion enacted the following statute: 

OFFICIAL OATHS. 

An Act to Regulate the Official Oaths. Be It 
Enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the 
Territory of Idaho, as follows: 
Section 1. That all officers elected, appointed 
or chosen in this territory, before entering upon 
the duties of their office, and all attorneys, coun- 
sellors and solicitors in chancery, in all the 



294 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

courts of this territory, before being admitted to 
practice, shall take and subscribe to the follow- 
ing oath, before some person competent to ad- 
minister oaths in this territory, viz.: "I, (here 
the name of the person and office to which he 
has been elected, appointed or chosen) do sol- 
emnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, pro- 
tect and defend the Constitution and government 
of the United States against all enemies, whether 
domestic or foreign, and that I will bear true 
faith, allegiance and loyalty to the same, any or- 
dinance, resolution or law of any state conven- 
tion or legislature to the contrary notwithstand- 
ing; and further, that I do this with a full deter- 
mination, pledge and purpose, without any men- 
tal reservation or evasion whatever; and further, 
that I will well and faithfully perform all the 
duties which may be required of me by law, so 
help me God." 

Sec. 2. All attorneys, counsellors* and solicit- 
ors in chancery, who have been admitted to the 
bar of the courts of this territory, prior to the 
passage of this act, shall not be allowed to ap- 
pear or practice in any court of this territory on 
and after the first Monday in February, eigh- 
teen hundred and sixty-four, unless he shall take 
and subscribe to the foregoing oath. 

Sec. 3. This act to take effect and be in force 
from and after its approval by the governor. 

Approved December 28th, 1863. 

Thus not only all the appointive and elective 
officers of the territory were required to take 



CALEB LYON APPOINTED GOVERNOR 295 

the oath of loyalty to the government, but all 
attorneys as well. 

At the present writing, A. D. 1911, during 
the Eleventh Session of the Idaho State Legisla- 
ture, while our wise men are laboring with the 
great problems of Sunday rest and prohibition, 
it is interesting to note that at so early a period 
in the history of this commonwealth as the meet- 
ing of the first session of the territorial legisla- 
ture, the Solons who constituted that body were 
cognizant of the need of reform in the method of 
observing the Sabbath. It is to be presumed that 
coming as many of them did within a recent 
period, from eastern homes, they were shocked 
by the click of faro and poker chips, together 
with the noise of dance halls and other hilarious 
amusements incident to a frontier town. They 
submitted to such proceedings for nearly two 
weeks, when forbearance ceased to be a virtue 
and they proceeded to devise in an official way, a 
method to reform the town of Lewiston and the 
Territory of Idaho, their deliberations resulting 
in the following act, which was approved Jan- 
uary 23rd, 1864 : 

OBSERVANCE OF THE LORD'S DAY. 

An act for the Better Observance of the Lord's 
Day. Be It Enacted by the Legislative As- 
sembly of the Territory of Idaho, as fol- 
lows : 
Section 1. No person shall keep open any play 

house or theatre, race ground, cock pit, or play at 



296 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

any game of chance, for gain, or engage in any 
noisy amusements, on the first day of the week, 
commonly called "Lord's Day." 

Sec. 2. No judicial business shall be trans- 
acted by any court, except deliberations of a 
jury, who have received a case on a week day, 
so-called, and who may receive further instruc- 
tions from the court, at their request, or deliver 
their verdict, nor any civil process be served by 
certifying or attesting officer, nor any record 
made by any legally appointed or elected officer, 
upon the first day of the week, commonly called 
the Lord's Day; Provided: That criminal pro- 
cess may issue for apprehension of any person 
charged with crime, and criminal examination 
to be proceeded with. 

Sec. 3. Any person or persons violating the 
provisions of the two preceding sections of this 
Act shall be punished, on conviction thereof, by 
a fine of not less than thirty dollars, nor more 
than two hundred and fifty dollars for each 
offense. 

Sec. 4. Justices of the peace may have juris- 
diction of all complaints arising under this act. 

Sec. 5. On complaint of any person, before a 
justice of the peace, the person or persons found 
guilty of any offense specified in this act shall 
be fined as aforesaid, to be paid to the treasurer 
of the territory, for the benefit of the common 
schools, and the offender shall, in addition to the 
said fine, and the cost of the prosecution, give 
bonds with two good and sufficient sureties, in 



CALEB LYON APPOINTED GOVERNOR 297 

the sum of no less than two hundred dollars, 
for good behavior during any time within the 
discretion of the court, and stand committed 
until the whole order is complied with and the 
fine be paid. 

Sec. 6. This act to take effect and be in force 
from and after its approval by the governor. 

Approved January 23rd, 1864. 

That the foregoing act was inoperative need 
not be stated. Sunday was the day usually cho- 
sen by the miners in the mining camps to go to 
town and purchase supplies, and while there, 
engage in such amusements as appealed to them. 
Some indulged in the "social glass," and others 
tried their luck at the gaming tables, while not 
a few "tripped the light fantastic toe" in the 
dance halls. To have attempted to enforce a 
Sunday rest law, at that period of our territorial 
history, would have resulted in vacancies in 
some of the offices. The majority of the men 
who supported this legislation were not distin- 
guished for their regard for either religion or 
morality. And all of them knew such a law 
could not be enforced. Hence it is difficult to un- 
derstand why they passed it, except that they 
might send copies of the measure to their former 
homes. 

The first session also granted twenty-six 
franchises, as follows: To 
James Silcott, for ferry. J. Meeks & Co., for f er- 
C. W. Frush, for ferry. ry. 
H. D. VanWyck, manu- H. O'Neill & Co., for 

facture gas. ferry. 



298 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

Bannock Water Co. J. R. Wiley, toll road. 

C. F. Cone, for ferry. T. H. Stringham, toll 
J. Howerton, toll road. road. 
South Boise Wagon A. G. Turner & Co., 

Road Co. toll road. 

E. B. Johnson, toll road. N. C. Boatman, manu- 
T. Prather for ferry. facture gas. 

Old, Ridout & Co., for Wright Ditch Co. 

ferry. C. Addis, for ferry. 

J. Herring, for bridge. A. J. Mallett, for tele- 
Hill Beachy, for toll graph line. 

road. W. Graham & Co., toll 

S. A. Woodward & Co., road. 

toll road. J. S. Wilson & Co., for 

W. B. Knott & Co., for ferry. 

ferry. W. Mulkey, for ferry. 

The franchise mentioned as having been 
given to Olds, Ridout & Co., was for what has 
ever since been known as Old's Ferry, and is one 
of the historic land-marks of pioneer days. The 
franchise was approved January 22, 1864, and 
Section 3 provided that "It shall be lawful for 
said parties, their heirs or assigns, to collect the 
following rates of toll for ferrying on said 
ferry : 

For one team with wagon $3.00 

For every extra team 1.00 

For each loaded pack animal 75 

For pack animals returning 50 

For horse and rider 75 

For footman .25 

For loose animals, each 25" 



CALEB LYON APPOINTED GOVERNOR 299 

The location of the foregoing ferry was, at 
that time, in Idaho county. The rates of toll 
collected were, approximately, the same as al- 
lowed in other franchises granted and were not 
exorbitant under the circumstances. 

The number of such franchises granted may 
appear to the reader of today, as well as the 
future, exceedingly large, but it must be borne 
in mind that the country was new, and, as in 
all other new countries, ferries at first sup- 
plied the place of bridges, and toll roads came 
before public highways in all mountainous dis- 
tricts. 

During the foregoing session an effort was 
made to locate the capital, as provided in the 
Organic Act, but after a somewhat protracted 
struggle, the bill was indefinitely postponed on 
the last day of the session, February 4, 1864. 
Before adjournment of the first session provision 
was made for "an election to be held in the sev- 
eral election precincts of the territory, on the 
first Monday of September, in each year, unless 
otherwise provided for." 

No subsequent session of the Idaho Territorial 
Legislature has been held under more trying cir- 
cumstances than that of the first. While there 
were many good law-abiding citizens in Lewis- 
ton, the general environment was conducive to 
such mental activities as would promote the 
rapid use of defensive weapons rather than the 
calm consideration of legislative matters. 

The Territorial Secretary was the acting 



300 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

governor, hence the members were without the 
moral support and advice of the executive head 
of the territory. 

Taking all the conditions into consideration, 
the enactments of that session are indisputable 
evidence that its membership was composed of 
able men; after adjournment they saddled their 
horses and with their primitive camp outfits, 
disappeared among the mountains and ravines 
from whence they came. 



CHAPTER X VII. 

BOISE CITY CHOSEN CAPITAL. 

>"T" V HE second session of the Idaho Territorial 
-"- Legislature convened in Lewiston Novem- 
ber 14, 1864, for a forty-day session, as limited 
by the Act of Congress which created the terri- 
tory. 

The House of Representatives was com- 
posed of thirteen members, five of whom were 
elected from Boise county, two from Idaho, two 
from Nez Perce, two from Owyhee and one from 
Shoshone county. 

The Council consisted of seven members, 
one from Alturas county, two from Boise coun- 
ty, one from Idaho county, one from Nez Perce, 
one from Owyhee and one from Shoshone county. 

The work of the second session of the Idaho 
legislature was devoted, largely, to amending 
and repealing the aqfcs of the first session, but, 
in addition, several measures were enacted into 
laws. The act creating Ada county was passed 
by this session, and approved December 22, 1864. 

Another important act was passed provid- 
ing for taxing foreign miners. It will be re- 
membered that, up to the time of this enactment, 



302 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

no surveys of the public domain had been made 
by the United States government, and conse- 
quently no patents had been issued. Therefore 
there was no real property to be taxed. Hence 
the revenue necessary to carry on the govern- 
ment was provided very largely by collecting- 
licenses from all sources possible, and the addi- 
tional revenue derived from taxing alien miners 
four dollars a month, was an important item. 

Section X. of the act provided that it 
"should be construed to apply only to such per- 
sons as are inhibited from becoming citizens of 
the United States, by the laws thereof." The 
fact was that the law was designed to affect 
Mongolians alone, and prevent or check their 
influx to the placer mines. 

As provided in the Organic Act, the Sec- 
ond session also passed the following act, lo- 
cating the capital: 

AN ACT 
To Permanently Locate the Capital of the Terri- 
tory of Idaho. Be It Enacted by the Legis- 
lative Assembly of the Territory of Idaho, 
as Follows: 
Sec. 1. That the capital of the Territory of 
Idaho be, and the same is hereby permanently 
located at Boise City, in the county of Boise and 
said territory of Idaho. 

Sec. 2. The capital buildings are hereby lo- 
cated on the grounds known in and described on 



BOISE CITY CHOSEN CAPITAL 303 

the plat of said Boise City, as the said Capitol 
Square. And the Honorables Caleb Lyon, C. B. 
Waite and J. M. Cannady are hereby appointed 
commissioners to receive a deed to said Capitol 
Square, and such other grounds as may be 
deemed necessary, to hold in trust for the terri- 
tory, for the purpose of erecting the .capitol 
buildings aforesaid. 

Sec. 3. The secretary of said territory is 
hereby authorized to immediately draw a war- 
rant upon the treasury of the territory, not ex- 
ceeding the sum of two thousand dollars, as 
shall be necessary to remove the papers, books, 
documents and other property belonging to his 
office, to said Boise City. 

Sec. 4. This act to take effect from and after 
the twenty-fourth day of December, A. D. 1864. 
Approved December 7th, A. D. 1864. 
The passage of the foregoing act caused 
strained relations between the counties of the 
north and those of the south, which resulted in 
the question being carried to the Supreme Court, 
and finally, to the Congress of the United States, 
where a bill returning the five northern counties 
of Idaho to Washington was introduced, and 
it passed both houses, but failed to receive the 
approval of the president. The following is a 
copy of the act, also a copy of the report from 
the committee on Territories, as well as other 
proposed legislation looking to the segregation 
of Idaho Territory. 



304 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

IDAHO AND WASHINGTON. 

February 3, 1886.— Referred to the House Cal- 
endar and ordered to be printed. 

Mr. Springer, from the committee on Ter- 
ritories, submitted the following 

REPORT. 
(To accompany Bill H. R. 2889). 

The Committee on the Territories, to Whom was 
Referred the Bill (H. R. 2889,) to Annex 
a Portion of Idaho to Washington Territory, 
Make the Following Report: 

It appears that that portion of Idaho, the 
annexation of which to Washington Territory is 
contemplated, cast a vote of 2,788 on November 
4, 1884, indicating, at a ratio of population to 
vote, 4.7, a population of 13,103. These people 
are almost wholly isolated from the southern por- 
tion of the territory by the Salmon River range 
of mountains, which are exceedingly rugged and 
precipitous in their character. The construc- 
tion of a wagon road across these mountains from 
north to south has, thus far, been regarded as 
wholly impracticable, so that at this time the 
sole direct means of communication between the 
two sections consist of a primitive Indian trail. 
During six months of the year this trail affords 
facilities alone to those who are expert in the 
use of snow-shoes. Under the most favorable 
conditions, pack-animals alone furnish any means 
of direct communication. 



BOISE CITY CHOSEN CAPITAL 305 

Because of the natural barriers indicated, 
a journey from any portion of northern Idaho to 
Boise City, the capital, is a very tedious and ex- 
pensive affair. The distance across the moun- 
tains ranges from 200 to 400 miles, while the 
distance necessary to be traveled ranges from 
400 to 600 miles, the route being a very circuit- 
ous one, through the Territory of Washington 
and the State of Oregon. For these reasons 
there are practically no commercial relations 
between these sections of Idaho, while on the 
other hand, the northern section is so situated 
with reference to Washington Territory as to 
make their interests — social, political and com- 
mercial — identical. 

In 1873 the Legislative Assembly of Wash- 
ington Territory memorialized Congress for the 
annexation of northern Idaho, as contemplated 
in the proposed legislation. In the winter of 
1884-85, the legislative assembly of Idaho passed 
a similar memorial, and during the last cam- 
paign the platforms of both political parties, in 
both Territories, declared in favor of said an- 
nexation, indicating an almost unanimous senti- 
ment on the part of the people of both Territor- 
ies favorable to the enactment of the proposed 
law. 

In response to the manifest necessities of 
the case, and in deference to the clearly ex- 
pressed wishes of the people of both Washing- 
ton and Idaho Territories, your committee rec- 

20 E. H. I. 



306 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

ommended the passage of the accompanying bill. 
Forty-ninth Congress, 2nd Session, H. R. 2889. 



IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. 
February 25, 1886. 

AN ACT 

To Annex a Portion of the Territory of Idaho to 

Washington Territory. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of 
Representatives of the United States of America 
in Congress assembled, That all of that portion 
of Idaho Territory north of the following boun- 
dary line, to- wit: Commencing at a point in 
the middle of the main channel of Snake River 
due west of the headwaters of Rabbit Creek; 
thence due east to the headwaters of Rabbit 
Creek; thence down the middle of said Rabbit 
Creek to its junction with Salmon River; thence 
up the middle of said Salmon river to the junc- 
tion of Horse Creek; thence up the middle of 
said Horse Creek to the junction of the East 
Fork of said creek; thence up the middle of said 
East Fork of Horse Creek to the crest of the 
Bitter Root range of mountains, be, and is 
hereby annexed to Washington Territory; Pro- 
vided: That the people of that portion of Idaho 
Territory hereby annexed to Washington Terri- 
tory shall in no wise be released from the pay- 
ment of their just portion of the bonded indebt- 
edness of Idaho Territory; and in ascertaining 
such bonded indebtedness there shall be deducted 



BOISE CITY CHOSEN CAPITAL 307 

therefrom the amount of money in the territor- 
ial treasury at the time of the passage of this 
act; And provided further, That the auditor 
of each county wholly or partially within such 
portion shall, as such indebtedness may become 
due and payable, draw his warrants on the treas- 
urer of his county, in favor of the treasurer of 
the Territory of Idaho, for such proportion of 
such indebtedness as the assessed valuation of 
all property therein shall then bear to the as- 
sessed valuation of all the property of said Terri- 
tory and said detached portion. 

Sec. 2. That within sixty days after the 
passage of this act, the Territorial Auditor of 
Washington Territory and the Territorial Comp- 
troller and Territorial Treasurer of Idaho Terri- 
tory shall meet at the offices of the Territorial 
Comptroller-Treasurer of Idaho Territory, at 
Boise City, and shall ascertain and determine 
from the books and records of said offices the 
exact amount of said bonded indebtedness, and 
the time the same or any and every portion 
thereof shall become due, and after deducting 
therefrom the amount of money found to have 
been in the treasury at the time of the passage 
of this act, to fix the several proportions justly 
due and to become due from the several counties 
and portions of counties detached from Idaho and 
attached to Washington Territory as provided in 
Section One of this act. They shall also in like 
manner apportion the cost of keeping the Terri- 
torial prisoners under sentence and in prison at 



308 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

the date of the passage of this act, at the present 
cost rate of keeping the same, to the expiration 
of their several terms of sentence; and the Terri- 
torial Comptroller and Territorial Treasurer of 
Idaho, on the first day of each month, shall make 
out an itemized bill of the cost of keeping said 
portion of prisoners, and shall certify to the cor- 
rectness thereof, and forward the same to the 
Auditor of Washington Territory, who shall draw 
his warrant on the territorial treasurer of Wash- 
ington Territory for the amount thereof, not to 
exceed the cost rate of maintaining and keeping 
said proportion of prisoners at the date of the 
passage of this act. 

Sec. 3. That all insane persons who at the date 
of the passage of this act are accredited to that 
portion of Idaho Territory which is hereby an- 
nexed to Washington Territory, and who are at 
that time being cared for at the expense of Ida- 
ho Territory, shall be transferred to the hospital 
for the insane of Washington Territory. 

Sec. 4. That from and after the passage of 
this act the government of the Territory of Idaho 
shall continue unimpaired, with the boundaries 
of said Territory changed as herein provided; 
and preparatory to the holding of the next gen- 
eral election, the governor, secretary, chief jus- 
tice, president of the council, and speaker of the 
House of Representatives of said Territory, or a 
majority of them, shall subdivide the Territory 
into the requisite number of legislative districts 
of convenient size, to be composed of single 



BOISE CITY CHOSEN CAPITAL 309 

counties or of several adjoining counties, so as to 
apportion, as nearly as practicable, the represen- 
tation in each branch of the legislative assembly, 
among the different districts according to popu- 
lation; Provided: That until otherwise provided 
by law, the legislative districts of that portion 
annexed to .Washington Territory by this act 
shall be and remain as now fixed by law, and the 
number of the members composing the legislative 
assembly of Washington Territory is hereby in- 
creased to fifteen members of the council and 
twenty-nine members of the house of represen- 
tatives. 

•Sec. 5. That until otherwise provided by 
law, the judges of the supreme court of the Ter- 
ritory of Idaho shall subdivide said Territory 
into as many judicial districts as there are judges 
of said court, and shall in like manner assign 
said judges severally thereto, and designate the 
places therein for the holding of courts for the 
trial of causes and the transaction of business 
arising therein; Provided: That all that por- 
tion of Idaho Territory annexed to Washington 
Territory by this act shall form and constitute 
the fifth judicial district of Washington Terri- 
tory until otherwise provided by the legislative 
assembly of Washington Territory; and there 
shall be appointed therefor, by the President of 
the United States, by and with the advice of the 
Senate, an additional associate justice of the 
supreme court of said Territory of Washington. 

Sec. 6. That all cases of writ of error or 



310 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

appeal heretofore prosecuted and now pending in 
the Supreme Court of the United States upon 
any record from the supreme court of the Terri- 
tory of Idaho, or that may hereafter be lawfully 
prosecuted from said court, may be heard and 
determined by the supreme court of the United 
States; and where the same arose within the 
limits by this act annexed to Washington Terri- 
tory, the mandate of execution or of other and 
further proceedings shall be directed by the 
supreme court of the United States to the said 
district court herein provided, or to the supreme 
court of the Territory of Washington, as the 
nature of the case may require; and each of 
said last mentioned courts shall be the successor 
of the supreme court of said Territory of Idaho 
as to all such cases, with full power to proceed 
with the same and to award mesne or final 
process therein. 

Sec. 7. That in respect of all cases, pro- 
ceedings and matters pending in the supreme or 
district courts of Idaho at the time of the pas- 
sage of this act, arising within the limits hereby 
annexed to Washington Territory, the supreme 
court of Washington Territory and the district 
court for the fifth district of said Territory, 
shall be the successors of said supreme and dis- 
trict courts of Idaho; and all the files, records, 
indictments and proceedings relating thereto 
shall be transferred to said supreme and district 
courts of Washington Territory, respectively, 



BOISE CITY CHOSEN CAPITAL 311 

and the same shall be proceeded with therein in 
due course of law. 

Sec. 8. That all justices of the peace, con- 
stables, sheriffs, and other officers who shall be 
in office within the limits of the district hereby 
annexed shall be, and they are hereby, author- 
ized and required to continue to exercise and 
perform the duties of their respective offices as 
officers of said Territory of Washington until 
they or others shall be duly elected or appointed 
and qualified to fill their places in the manner 
provided by the laws in force in Washington 
Territory, or until their offices shall be abolished ; 
Provided: That from and after the passage of 
this act the laws of Idaho shall cease to be in 
force in the district hereby annexed to Wash- 
ington Territory, and the laws in force in Wash- 
ington Territory are hereby extended over the 
same. 

In the Forty-ninth Congress, 1885-1887, 
House Bill 2889, introduced by Mr. Voorhees, 
passed both houses, a copy herewith. This bill 
provided that the government of the Territory 
of Idaho, being that portion not detached, 
should continue unimpaired. 

The Congressional Record does not show 
that any debate took place at the time of the pas- 
sage of the bill in either house. While under 
consideration in the senate, Mr. Edmunds of- 
fered certain amendments relative to suits then 
pending, that were agreed to without discus- 
sion. 



312 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

In the same congress three other bills were 
introduced on the same subject, H. R. 10057 by 
Mr. Toole, a member from Montana. His Chris- 
tian name was Joseph Kemp Toole. There was 
no action taken by the House committee on H. 
R. 10057. 

Section 4 of H. R. 10057 contained the 
same provisions relative to the remainder of the 
territory as does H. R. 2889, that is, that the 
government of the Territory of Idaho should 
continue unimpaired, with the boundaries of 
said territory changed as herein provided. 

December 8, 1885, Daniel W. Voorhees, a 
senator from Indiana introduced Senate Bill 39 
providing for the annexation of the same portion 
of Idaho to Washington Territory. Section 4 
of this bill contained the same provision relative 
to the remainder of the territory, that is, that 
the government of the Territory of Idaho should 
continue unimpaired, with the boundaries 
changed as herein provided. No action by the 
senate committee was taken on this bill. 

In the Forty-ninth Congress the other sen- 
ator from Indiana was Benjamin Harrison, who 
on March 11, 1886, introduced (by request) 
Senate Bill 1848. Section 4 of this bill contained 
the same provision relative to the remainder of 
the Territory. This bill differed from H. R. 
2889 in that it detached all that portion of Idaho 
north of the 47th parallel of north latitude and 
provided that this portion should be annexed to 
Montana. The portion to be annexed to Wash- 



BOISE CITY CHOSEN CAPITAL 313 

ington was the same as in H. R. 2889. This 
same provision was contained in H. R. 10057, 
introduced by the delegate from Montana, Mr. 
Toole. No action on either bill. So that there 
was no action by the committee on the bills that 
provided that that portion north of the 47th par- 
allel be annexed to Montana. 

The Second Session of the Legislative As- 
sembly of the Territory of Idaho also made pro- 
visions for the organization of the counties of 
Kootenai and Latah by the following enact- 
ment: 

AN ACT 
Creating the Counties of Latah and Kootenai. Be 
It Enacted by the Legislative Assembly of 
the Territory of Idaho, as Follows: 
Sec. 1. That all that portion of Idaho Ter- 
ritory embraced within the following described 
boundaries, be, and the same is hereby created 
into, and shall be known as the County of 
Latah, to-wit: Beginning at a point in the 
main channel of Snake River at its junction with 
the Clearwater River; thence running due north 
along the dividing line between Washington and 
Idaho Territories, to the forty-eighth degree of 
north latitude, thence east with said degree of 
latitude until it intersects the boundary line of 
Shoshone County; thence south with the boun- 
dary line of said county to the middle channel of 
the Clearwater river; thence with the channel of 
said river to its junction with Snake river, to 
the place of beginning; and the county seat of 



814 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

said county of Lah-Toh is hereby located at 
Coeur d'Alene. 

Sec. 2. That all that portion of Idaho Ter- 
ritory embraced within the following described 
boundaries be, and the same is hereby created 
into and shall be known as the county of Koo- 
tenai, to-wit : Beginning at a point on the forty- 
eighth degree of north latitude, on the dividing 
line between Washington and Idaho Territories; 
thence north with said line of longitude to the 
forty-ninth degree of north latitude; thence east 
with said degree of latitude to the northwest 
corner of the boundary line of Montana Terri- 
tory; thence southerly with the boundary line of 
said territory to the forty-eighth degree of north 
latitude; and thence west along the said degree 
of latitude to the place of beginning, and the 
county seat of said county of Kootenai is hereby 
located at Sin-na-ac-qua-teen. 

Sec. 3. That whenever the inhabitants, to 
the number of fifty or more, of each or either of 
said counties of Lah-toh and Kootenai, shall de- 
sire to perfect a county organization, they shall 
apply by petition to the governor, who, if he 
deem it advisable, shall proceed to designate by 
appointment three discreet and well qualified citi- 
zens of the county or counties so applying, to 
act as a board of county commissioners of such 
county. The board of county commissioners as 
appointed, after they have qualified in pursuance 
of law, and enter upon the duties of their office, 
may proceed to fill, by the appointment of suit- 



BOISE CITY CHOSEN CAPITAL 315 

able residents of the county, the various county 
offices, as required by law for other organized 
counties in this territory. 

Sec. 4. The officers appointed in pursuance 
of Section three of this act, shall hold their offi- 
ces until their successors are, by law, elected and 
qualified. At the general election next succeeding 
the appointment of such county officers as herein 
mentioned, the qualified voters of the county so 
organized shall elect their county commissioners 
and all other officers, in the manner as now pre- 
scribed by law for the election of officers of 
other counties. 

Sec. 5. The said counties of Lah-toh and 
Kootenai shall be attached to and compose a part 
of the first judicial district, for all judicial pur- 
poses, and until such counties, or either of them, 
shall have completed their organization as in this 
act provided, they shall be attached to and com- 
pose a part of Nez Perce county for all civil and 
criminal jurisprudence; Provided: That noth- 
ing in this act shall be construed as to interfere 
with any Indian reservation, or any treaty stipu- 
lations between the government of the United 
States and any Indian tribe or tribes, within 
the limits of either of the said counties hereby 
created. 

Sec. 6. This act to take effect and be in 
force from and after its approval by the gov- 
ernor. 

Approved December 22, A. D. 1864. 

At the time the foregoing bill was passed, 



316 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

there was no such town as Coeur d'Alene, where 
the county seat of Lah-toh County was to be 
located, nor was there any town at the place 
named as the county seat of Kootenai county, the 
population of both counties consisting of but a 
few prospectors. Therefore the new counties 
could not organize. Two years later the follow- 
ing act was passed, which repealed the act cre- 
ating Lah-toh, and extended the boundaries of 
Nez Perce and Kootenai counties, wiping Lah- 
toh off the map. 

AN ACT 
To Amend an Act Entitled An Act Defining the 
Boundary Lines of Counties West of the 
Rocky Mountains; Repealing the Law Cre- 
ating the County of Lah-toh, and Defining 
the Limits of the County of Kootenai. 
Be It Enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the 
Territory of Idaho, as follows : 
Sec. 1. That all that portion of Idaho Terri- 
tory contained within the following boundaries, 
to-wit: Beginning at the middle channel of 
Snake river, opposite the mouth of Clearwater 
river; and thence due north along the westerly 
line of Idaho Territory to the main divide be- 
tween the waters of the Palouse river and Lah- 
toh, or Hangman's Creek; thence easterly to the 
westerly line of Shoshone county; thence south- 
erly along said line to the Clearwater river; 
thence up the South Fork of Clearwater river 
to Lolo Creek; thence with Lolo Creek in an 
easterly direction to the summit of the Bitter 



BOISE CITY CHOSEN CAPITAL 317 

Root mountains; thence southerly along the 
summit of said mountains to the juncture of 
Salmon river and Bitter Root Mountains, thence 
in a westerly direction along the summit of the 
Salmon river and Clearwater Mountains to a 
prominent landmark known as the "Buffalo 
Hump;" thence westerly along said divide be- 
tween the water of White Bird Creek and Camas 
Prairie, to a point where the road leading from 
Lewiston to Slate Creek crosses said divide, 
thence in a direct line to the foot of Ponte Bar 
on Salmon River; thence in a direct line to a 
point on Snake River known as Pittsburg Land- 
ing; thence down the center of the channel of 
Snake river to the place of beginning, shall com- 
prise the county of Nez Perce. 

Sec. 2. All that portion of the Territory of 
Idaho north of the Counties of Nez Perce and 
Shoshone shall comprise the County of Kootenai. 

Sec. 3. Whenever the county commissioners 
of Kootenai shall be appointed as provided by 
law, they shall have the power to locate the 
county seat of said county. 

Sec. 4. The act creating the counties of 
Latah and Kootenai, approved December 22nd, 
1864, so far as the same conflicts with the pro- 
visions of this act, and the provisions of all other 
acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith, are 
hereby repealed. 

This act is to take effect after its passage. 

Approved January 9th, 1867. 

A few years later the upland plateau, now 



318 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

known as the Palouse country, began to at- 
tract attention as an agricultural district, and 
during the years between 1870 and 1880, all the 
open or prairie land lying north of the Clear- 
water River, in Nez Perce county, was located 
by actual settlers, and two prosperous towns, 
Genesee and Moscow, sprang into existence, the 
latter soon rivalling Lewiston, the county seat, 
in population and business enterprise. 

A division of Nez Perce, and the founding 
of a new county, began to be advocated as early 
as 1880, and a bill was eventually passed by the 
Territorial Assembly submitting the question of 
county division to the voters of the County. The 
division contest was waged in a spirited manner 
and resulted in a victory for Lewiston, and the 
defeat of county division. 

The citizens of Moscow, however, carried the 
fight to the United States congress and were 
successful a few years later. (1888). 

The creation of a new county in a territory 
by act of congress is without a parallel in the 
history of Congressional legislation. 

The following is a copy of the act which cre- 
ated Latah county and established the county seat 
at Moscow: 
An Act to Create and Organize the County of 

Latah. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House 
of Representatives of the United States of Amer- 
ica in Congress assembled, That all that portion 
of Nez Perce county, in the Territory of Idaho, 



BOISE CITY CHOSEN CAPITAL 319 

lying north of the following line, to-wit: Com- 
mencing at a point where the middle line of 
township thirty-eight north intersects the line 
between Nez Perce and Shoshone Counties in 
said Territory; thence west to Big Potlatch 
Creek where it first intersects the said middle 
line of the township thirty-eight; thence down 
said creek southwesterly to a point where it 
intersects the middle line of township thirty- 
seven; thence due west to the line between the 
Territories of Idaho and Washington be, and 
the same is hereby, formed and organized into 
a county, to be known and designated as the 
county of Latah, with all rights, power and 
privileges of counties under the existing laws 
of the Territory of Idaho. 

Sec. 2. That W. W. Langdon, J. L. Nailer, 
and William Frazier are hereby appointed com- 
missioners of said county of Latah, and their 
annual compensation shall be the same as now 
provided by law for the commissioners of Nez 
Perce county. 

Sec. 3. That the county commissioners 
above named are hereby authorized, within twen- 
ty days after the approval of this act, to quali- 
fy before a justice of the peace and enter upon 
the discharge of their duties as such commis- 
sioners, and are hereby empowered to appoint 
all necessary county officers to perfect the or- 
ganization of said county of Latah under the 
laws of the Territory of Idaho, and the said 
county commissioners and other county officers 



320 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

appointed as aforesaid shall hold their offices 
until the next general election provided by the 
laws of said Territory, and until their successors 
are elected and qualified according to law. 

Sec. 4. That the justices of the peace, con- 
stables, road supervisors, and other precinct and 
school officers heretofore elected and qualified 
and now acting as such, residing in said county 
of Latah, are hereby continued as such officers 
in said county of Latah until the next general 
election aforesaid and until their successors are 
duly elected and qualified. 

Sec. 5. That the county of Latah shall pay 
to the county of Nez Perce a just proportion of 
the net indebtedness of said Nez Perce county, 
the same to be determined as follows, to-wit: 
The County Treasurer, Recorder and present 
County Assessor of Nez Perce County are hereby 
constituted a board of adjusters, who shall pro- 
ceed to ascertain the net indebtedness of said 
county of Nez Perce, which shall be done as fol- 
lows, namely: Ascertain all the county justly 
owes in warrants, scrip, or other just debts, 
which amount shall constitute the gross indebted- 
ness of said county, from which deduct the 
amount of the unpaid portion of the assessment 
roll of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven and the 
amount of all delinquent assessments-rolls which 
are considered collectable up to that date, and 
the amount of all moneys, and other credits due 
the county then, and the balance so found shall 
constitute the net indebtedness of said county of 



BOISE CITY CHOSEN CAPITAL 321 

Nez Perce; and the net indebtedness of said 
county of Nez Perce, ascertained as aforesaid, 
shall be divided equally between the counties of 
Nez Perce and Latah in proportion to the tax- 
able property of said counties as it legally ap- 
pears on the assessment roll for the year eigh- 
teen hundred and eighty-seven, and the said 
county of Latah shall cause a warrant or war- 
rants to be drawn upon its treasurer to the 
county of Nez Perce, which said warrant or 
warrants shall take priority in payment over all 
other warrants, scrip, or other indebtedness of 
the said county of Latah. 

Sec. 6. That the county commissioners of 
Nez Perce county are hereby authorized and re- 
quired to furnish to the county of Latah tran- 
scrips of all records, indexes and documents and 
other papers on file and of record in the offices 
of Nez Perce County, which may be necessary to 
perfect the records of Latah County. They may 
contract with the auditor of Nez Perce County 
to make the above-named transcripts, the com- 
pensation for which shall be in addition to his 
regular salary. The necessary books for the 
aforementioned transcripts shall be furnished by 
Latah County, and the expense of making the 
said transcripts shall be paid by the counties 
of Nez Perce, and Latah equally. Certificates of 
the correctness of said records, made as aforesaid, 
shall have the same legal effect as if made by the 
auditor of Nez Perce county. 

Sec. 7. That the County of Latah is hereby 

21 B. H. I. 



322 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

attached to Nez Perce County for judicial pur- 
poses until the next meeting of the judges of the 
supreme court of Idaho Territory, when it shall 
be the duty of said judges to fix a time for hold- 
ing court in said county of Latah as provided by 
the laws of said territory for the other counties 
thereof. Thirty days after the time of holding 
said court is fixed as aforesaid, the said county of 
Latah shall assume and be vested with all the ju- 
dicial rights, privileges and powers of a county 
under the laws of the said Territory of Idaho. 

Sec. 8. That the county of Latah shall re- 
main with Nez Perce County for the legislative 
purposes until otherwise provided by law. 

Sec. 9. That the county seat of Latah coun- 
ty is hereby located at the town of Moscow in 
said county. 

Sec. 10. That the commissioners of Latah 
County be, and they are hereby authorized to 
issue bonds to an amount not exceeding twenty 
thousand dollars, of denominations not less than 
one hundred nor more than one thousand dol- 
lars, running for a term of not less than ten 
nor more than twenty years, bearing interest at 
the rate not exceeding eight per centum per 
annum, with interest coupons attached, which 
bonds shall be signed by the chairman of the 
board of county commissioners and the auditor 
of said county, and be authenticated by the seal 
of said county. 

Sec. 11. That the said board of commission- 
ers are hereby authorized to make sale of said 



BOISE CITY CHOSEN CAPITAL 323 

bonds and apply the proceeds thereof to the 
erection of a court house and jail, and such other 
public buildings as may be necessary; Provided: 
That no bond shall be sold by said commissioners 
for less than its par value. 

Sec. 12. That the said board of commis- 
sioners and their successors in office are hereby 
empowered and required to levy such tax as may 
be necessary, to promptly pay the interest on said 
bonds, and also to levy such tax as may be neces- 
sary to pay the principal of said bonds as the 
same shall become due. 

Sec. 13. That in the event said board of 
commissioners shall issue bonds as hereinbefore 
authorized, the interest coupons thereof shall be 
receivable in payment of the county taxes of said 
county of Latah. 

Sec. 14. That the commissioners of Nez 
Perce county be, and they are hereby, authorized 
to issue bonds to an amount not exceeding thirty 
thousand dollars, of denominations not less than 
one hundred nor more than one thousand 
dollars, running for terms of not less than ten 
nor more than twenty years, bearing interest at 
a rate not exceeding eight per centum per annum 
with interest coupons attached, which bonds 
shall be signed by the chairman of the said board 
of commissioners and county auditor, and be 
authenticated by the seal of said county. 

Sec. 15. That the said board of commis- 
sioners are hereby authorized to make sale of 
said bonds and apply the proceeds thereof to 



324 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

the erection of a court-house, jail, and such other 
public buildings as may be necessary, and for the 
building of necessary bridges; Provided: That 
no bond shall be sold by said board of commis- 
sioners for less than its par value. 

Sec. 16. That the said board of commission- 
ers and their successors in office are hereby em- 
powered and required to levy such tax as may le 
necessary to promptly pay the interest on said 
bonds, and also to levy such tax as may be neces- 
sary to pay the principal of said bonds as the 
same shall become due. 

Sec. 17. That in the event said board of 
commissioners shall issue bonds as hereinbefore 
authorized, the interest coupons attached to said 
bonds shall be receivable in payment of the 
county taxes of said county of Nez Perce. 

Sec. 18. That the county of Latah shall not 
be entitled to any portion of the property, real or 
personal, of the said county of Nez Perce. 

Sec. 19. That all acts in conflict with any 
of the provisions of this act be, and the same are 
hereby repealed. 

Sec. 20. That this act shall be in force 
from and after its ratification. 

Approved May 14, 1888. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

MANY AFFAIRS OF INTEREST. 

^pHE Third Session of the Legislative Assem- 
•*- bly of the Territory of Idaho convened in 
Boise City December 4, 1865, and adjourned Jan- 
uary 12, 1866. 

The Council consisted of eight members, and 
the House of nineteen members. The member- 
ship of both houses was composed of capable and 
industrious men. 

It is possible that some of the legislation 
which they enacted was ill-advised, but the mem- 
bers were honest and earnest in their efforts to 
promote the interests of the Territory. 

The following is an excerpt from Governor 
Lyon's message to the Third Legislative Assem- 
bly of the Territory of Idaho : 

"Gentlemen of the Council and House of Repre- 
sentatives : 
"The Temple of War is closed. No more shall 
its iron-mouthed and brazen-throated cannon 
peal forth dread 'miseries' over half a thousand 
battle-fields, where sleep their last sleep — the 
victor and the vanquished. No more shall the ear 
of night be pierced with the echoes of fierce 
assault and stubborn defense from encompassed 



32 6 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

and beleaguered cities. The conflict is over, and 
with it expires the cause. 

"They who appealed to the last argument of 
kings, appealed in vain. The Constitution of our 
common country has been vindicated and the 
Union gallantly sustained. The destroyers have 
become restorers, and those who were last in 
war have been the first to hail the glorious 
advent of peace. Each returning state is wel- 
comed with National joy; each renewed tie of the 
ancient fraternity of feeling is another evidence 
of the wisdom of the Government in its position 
— that statehood may be suspended, but can only 
with annihilation die. I heartily congratulate 
you as a source of profound gratitude to the God 
of Nations, that the representatives of thirty- 
seven sovereignties will assemble this December, 
as of yore, at the Capitol in Washington, over 
which the old flag floats with a new splendor, 
lighted by the stately stars of a perfect con- 
stellation. In older communities the many prece- 
dents, like lamps, guide the feet of legislators in 
the beaten way, but here in the paramount in- 
terest that presents itself, our legislation has 
no analogies. Personal security, protection of 
property; the fostering of moral and material ad- 
vancement — will give wide scope for your judic- 
ious investigation and patient research. To 
your care, your wisdom and your judgment, have 
been confined, in part, the welfare of the. people 
of the territory, and under such auspicious cir- 
cumstances may you, as representatives, prove 
worthy of their fullest confidence." 



MANY AFFAIRS OF INTEREST 327 

The gentlemen who constituted the member- 
ship of the Third Session were "jolly" good fel- 
lows — very liberal in their disbursement of pub- 
lic funds. As an example of this liberality, the 
following may be quoted : 

AN ACT 
For the Relief of James I. Crutcher, Sheriff of 
Boise County, Idaho Territory. 

Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of 
the Territory of Idaho, as follows: 

Sec. 1. The sum of eleven thousand five hun- 
dred dollars is hereby appropriated for the bene- 
fit of James I. Crutcher, Sheriff of Boise County, 
Idaho Territory, to reimburse that officer for 
large sums of money by him expended on behalf 
of the Territory, to-wit : The sum of nine thous- 
and dollars for the maintenance of Territorial 
prisoners; and the further sum of two thousand 
five hundred dollars for the protection of Terri- 
torial prisoners and property during the late 
riot in said county. 

Sec. 2. That the said Crutcher is hereby 
authorized to realize the said sum of eleven 
thousand five hundred dollars by retaining that 
amount for his own use and benefit, out of any 
moneys in his hands, which have been collected 
by him as Tax Collector for Territorial purposes. 

Sec. 3. That the said James I. Crutcher be 
allowed, and he is hereby required to turn over, 
in his settlement to the officer authorized to re- 
ceive it for the Territory, Territorial warrants, 



328 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

amounting in the aggregate to the said sum of 
eleven thousand and five hundred dollars. 

Sec. 4. This act to take effect from and after 
its approval by the Governor. 
Approved January 6th, 1864. 



It is difficult to account for this liberality 
under the conditions existing at that time, as ex- 
plained in "Hailey's History of Idaho," pp. 128- 
129: 

"Condition and Conduct of the People in Idaho 
in 1865." 

"Some writers, who never lived in Idaho, 
have seen fit to give exaggerated statements in 
regard to the kind of people who lived in Idaho 
in the early days, and more especially, to criti- 
cise the conduct of brave pioneers who paved 
the way for others to come. 

"From some of these statements, the reader 
would infer that Idaho was first settled by a 
band of thieves, robbers, murderers and general 
law-breakers. We desire in behalf of justice to 
those brave old pioneers, both men and women, 
to refute this statement. 

"The writer was engaged in the transporta- 
tion of passengers and freight between the Co- 
lumbia river and Boise Basin from the spring 
of 1863 to July, 1870, spending a portion of my 
time every month in Boise Basin. My business 
necessarily brought me in contact with men 
and women of all classes and professions, and I 
can truthfully say that I never had business 



MANY AFFAIRS OF INTEREST 329 

dealings with, or met more honest, upright men 
and women than in the early sixties in Idaho. 
I do not mean by this that there were no bad 
men in Idaho. There were a few, as there are in 
all communities, but they were the exception. 

"The courts and officers enforced the law 
strictly. It may be interesting to the reader to 
know something of the number of law breakers 
who were sent to the territorial prison in '64-'65. 
Under a law passed at the Second Session, 1864, 
the Territorial Treasurer was made prison com- 
missioner with power to audit the accounts of the 
prison keeper. In his report to the legislative 
assembly, under date of December, 1865, he re- 
ports for the year 1864 three prisoners — one 
confined 267 days; one for 160 days; and one 
for 113 days. From January 1st, 1865, he re- 
ports four prisoners. From July, 1865, to De- 
cember 5th, 1865, the date of the prison commis- 
sioner's report, the prisoners confined in the Ter- 
ritorial prison averaged ten. There must have 
been in Idaho at that time not less than twenty- 
five thousand people, mostly grown men and 
women. 

"The reader may say that our laws were not 
enforced, but I desire to state that they were 
strictly enforced. The people in Idaho were, as 
a rule, honest, upright, intelligent citizens, kind 
and generous to a fault. No appeal for aid to 
anyone in distress was ever unanswered. The 
pioneers of Idaho were unquestionably a noble 
class of men and women, and well deserve credit 
for redeeming this fair 'Gem of the Mountains' 



330 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

from a land of savages and a barren waste to a 
land of beauty, peace and plenty." 



It will be noted that there were in the 
Territorial prisons, all told, three prisoners dur- 
ing 1864, and from January 1, 1865, to July of 
that year, four; and from July to December, 
1865, an average of ten in both prisons — one of 
which was in Lewiston and the other in Idaho 
City. The writer has not the commissioner's 
report at hand to determine how many were con- 
fined in each prison, but even if all of them 
were in the Idaho City penitentiary, it would 
seem today as if $9,000.00 was a very liberal 
compensation for their keep for the time speci- 
fied. 

Yes, the members were "jolly" good fellows; 
two of the Ada county members were elected 
from the same saloon in Boise City — thus saving 
mileage. 

During the Third Session the following 
amendment was enacted: 

AN ACT 

To Amend An Act Relative to Attorneys and 
Counselors at Law. 

Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly 
of the Territory of Idaho, as follows : 

Sec. 1. That Section Three of said act shall 
read as follows: Every applicant for admission 
as attorney and counselor, shall produce satis- 
factory testimonials of good moral character, 



MANY AFFAIRS OF INTEREST 331 

and undergo an examination by a committee of 
attorneys appointed by the Court as to his quali- 
fications. 

Sec. 2. All laws in conflict with this act 
are hereby repealed. 

Sec. 3. This act to take effect from and 
after its approval by the Governor. 

Approved January 5th, A. D. 1866. 



The act thus amended was passed by the 
First Session and required attorneys and coun- 
sellors at law to take an oath of allegiance to the 
U. S. Government. Strange as it may appear 
today, the taking of such an oath was then con- 
sidered a great hardship. 

The Third Session enacted a large number of 
franchises, providing for the operation of ferries, 
and the construction of toll roads, as well as 
much valuable legislation looking to the future 
welfare and development of the Territory. The 
session came to an end January 12, 1866. 

The year 1866 witnessed the departure of 
many placer miners from the country and the 
consequent decline in that industry. But the 
previous discovery and development of rich silver 
lodes in Owyhee county together with a number 
of quartz mines in Boise Basin, served to main- 
tain the output of precious metals, and gave per- 
manence and stability to the business interests 
of the Territory. 

On April 10, 1866, David W. Ballard of Leban- 
on, Linn county, Oregon, was appointed governor 



332 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

to succeed Governor Lyon. Governor Ballard 
was a physician by profession and came to his 
new duties well recommended. He filled the 
office of chief executive of the Territory for four 
years, and at the close of his service he returned 
to his former home, respected by every one. He 
was a man of tranquil temperament, with a clear 
conception of duty, and a fixed determination to 
do whatever he conceived to be right. 

PIUTE INDIANS. 

From the time of the first discovery of 
precious metals south and west of Snake river — 
in what is now Owyhee county — prospecting was 
retarded by the hostile disposition of the Piute 
Indians. The discovery of not only placer de- 
posits, but of very rich silver ore in the vicinity 
of Ruby and Silver Cities, caused an influx of 
population, which, concentrating as it did within 
a radius of a few miles, sufficed to hold the In- 
dians in check in the immediate vicinity, but for 
several years travelers in small parties were in 
continual danger on all the routes of travel to 
and from the Owyhee towns and mining camps. 

It was not an uncommon experience for the 
stage that carried passengers and express be- 
tween Boise City, Ruby and Silver City, to be 
made a target while crossing the ridge between 
Reynold's Creek and Snake river, and although 
a wholesome fear of the express messenger and 
the passengers, who were always well armed, 
served to prevent the Indians from coming to 
close quarters, several passengers were killed or 



MANY AFFAIRS OF INTEREST 333 

wounded while attempting this trip. These mur- 
derous assaults, as in fact were nearly all others 
at that time, were made by small predatory bands 
of usually not more than half a dozen warriors, 
who were generally young men with a consuming 
ambition to distinguish themselves, and being 
always well equipped with saddle animals, they, 
after firing a volley into a stage coach, usually 
made their escape. The troops stationed at Boise 
being infantry, were unable to pursue and pun- 
ish the perpetrators of these attacks. They might 
pursue, as indeed they sometimes did, each man 
carrying a few days' rations on his back, but 
such pursuit served only to make the Indians 
bolder. 

It was not until after the close of the war 
of the Rebellion in 1865 that our government was 
able to give proper attention to our, at that time, 
extensive frontier. 

As soon as the situation in South Idaho was 
understood, army posts were established through- 
out the favorite haunts of the Indians, and thus 
they were brought under control. But, in the 
interim, many tragedies were enacted, many 
sodless mounds marked the trails where later 
progress and civilization entered the desert 
wastes of Idaho. 

The fact that the United States troops, up 
to the year 1866, had failed to suppress the hos- 
tilities of the Indians in the vicinity of Owyhee, 
was the cause of much unjust criticism, especially 
from those whose sympathies were with the Con- 



334 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

federate rather than with the Union armies, and 
it was repeatedly stated until it became a fixed 
belief that "soldiers were 'no good' for fighting 
Indians; it required miners and packers to 
clean them out." This belief, which was very 
general, culminated during the early summer of 
1866, in the organization and equipment of a 
private company under the leadership of an old 
Indian fighter and packer named Jennings. This 
company intended to penetrate the country occu- 
pied by the hostiles lying west and south of Sil- 
ver City. It consisted of forty men, well provid- 
ed with saddle horses and pack animals to trans- 
port their equipage, which included a commis- 
sary sufficient to permit them to remain in the 
field for at least three months. 

It must not be thought that all the men who 
constituted the membership of this troop were 
impelled to enlist through patriotic motives or a 
desire to defend the lives and property of their 
fellow- citizens, for such motives were unknown 
to many of them. The real object of the enter- 
prise was to enrich themselves by the capture of 
horses and mules which the Indians were known 
to possess in large numbers. 

It is true that many of those who joined 
the company were good men who happened at 
that time to be out of employment, and through 
that spirit of adventure which permeates all 
frontiermen, resolved to "take a chance." But 
among the number, on the other hand, were many 
of the "bravo" type, whose field of adventure is 
usually confined to the saloons and dance-halls. 



MANY AFFAIRS OF INTEREST 335 

As the company started out on its dangerous 
mission, its members were the recipients of the 
well-wishes of everyone. 

It is doubtful if a better armed and equipped 
body of men ever took the field against these or 
any other tribe of Indians. As their leader was 
a man of courage and experience, it was confi- 
dently expected that a courier would shortly 
return bringing the news of an encounter in 
which the Indians were annihilated, and that the 
volunteers had covered themselves with glory. 
However, it was not until the expiration of more 
than three weeks that any news of their activities 
reached Silver and Ruby Cities, and then it 
was in an unexpected form. 

Court was in session during the interim of 
their absence, and the famous "Poor Man" 
mining case was on trial. The town of Ruby, 
then the county seat of Owyhee county, and its 
sister town, Silver City, with suburbs merging 
into each other, were tense with excitement over 
a trial involving title to what, at that time, had 
the appearance of being the richest silver mine 
ever discovered. 

The disputed property was claimed by the 
New York & Owyhee Gold & Silver Mining com- 
pany, which claim was contested by Put Brad- 
ford and associates of Portland, Oregon. Each 
of the contestants had erected stockades, or mini- 
ature forts, adjacent to the disputed ground, and 
these were garrisoned by professional gun-fight- 
ers employed by the contestants. 



336 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

Rumors were rife that neither party to the 
contest would peacefully submit to defeat, and, 
as a consequence, not only was the U. S. mar- 
shal's office represented by numerous deputies, 
but a company of infantry from Boise Barracks 
were also encamped below town in order to be 
convenient in case of lawlessness. 

Thus, with hostilities imminent, both within 
and outside of the towns, the atmosphere was 
tense with expectancy. 

One morning between three or four o'clock, 
some weeks after the departure of the company 
that went in search of the Indians, and while 
the mining dispute was at its greatest tension, 
a general alarm sounded. This was effected by 
blowing the steam whistles of all the quartz- 
mills, of which there were several in operation; 
the beating of gongs and the ringing of bells. 
In a few minutes the streets were thronged with 
men, armed with such weapons as they could 
hastily procure, all ready to repel an assault, the 
first impression being that the Indians were 
about to attack; but it was soon learned that 
the tumult was caused by the arrival of two 
scouts who had accompanied the party in quest 
of the Indians. 

The scouts reported that thirty-five of the 
original party of forty men were surrounded 
about sixty or seventy miles from Silver City by 
a body of Indians estimated to be five hundred 
strong. They had been attacked while prepar- 
ing to cross the Owyhee river at a ford, and 



MANY AFFAIRS OF INTEREST 337 

had retreated from the place where the attack 
was made to where they had camped the previous 
night. This position, which happened to be well 
adapted for defense, was being held by them 
when the scouts managed to escape the following 
night through the Indians' lines. The escape was 
effected by crawling between the« Indian sentinels 
at night, which, fortunately, happened to be a 
dark one. The men traveled all that night and 
lay concealed the next day among the lava rocks, 
enduring the rays of the July sun without shade 
and without water. When darkness fell again, 
making it safe for them to move, they continued 
their journey, arriving at their destination, Silver 
City, at the hour stated. 

They brought a note from Captain Jennings, 
which stated that unless relief was sent as quick- 
ly as possible, not a man would be left to tell the 
tale. 

For perhaps twenty minutes chaos reigned in 
Silver City and Ruby; but the citizens having 
assembled in front of a store in the former place, 
a man mounted a box, and, reading the message, 
he called for volunteers to go to the relief of the 
endangered men. It was proposed that all who 
had arms, and who could procure horses to ride 
should ride at once to Flint, which was several 
miles on the road to be traveled in attempting 
the rescue. 

In about one hour from the time the first 
alarm was given, nearly one hundred men were 
mounted and en route to Flint. There a halt 
was called and an organization was effected. 

22 E. H. I. 



338 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

The men were divided into three companies, 
each of which elected its own captain, who named 
his own lieutenants. No regimental organzation 
was effected. 

As soon as these preliminaries were com- 
pleted the march began. Company A, of which 
the writer had been chosen captain, was in the 
lead, and was closely followed by the other two 
companies. The scouts, although nearly ex- 
hausted, after a few drinks and a hearty meal in 
Silver, announced themselves able to accompany 
the relief expedition, and were accordingly given 
horses and assigned to places in the lead of the 
cavalcade to pilot the way. They expected to 
lead the rescuers to the battle ground so as to 
arrive at daylight the following morning. But 
owing to darkness the first night, and to the 
sameness of the lava country over which they 
were obliged to travel, they became bewildered, 
and losing their way, did not reach their ob- 
jective point until late the next afternoon. 

The Indians, who had doubtless been warned 
of the approaching volunteers, made a hasty re- 
i treat, carrying with them their dead and wound- 

ed. The saddle animals being so jaded and the 
men so exhausted from fatigue and hunger, im- 
mediate pursuit was impracticable. 

The arrival of the relief party was well 
timed, the ammunition of the beleaguered men 
being almost expended. 

The position they had chosen for defense 
was well adapted for the purpose, it being a 



MANY AFFAIRS OF INTEREST 339 

little oasis, or basin, in a volcanic plain, the rim- 
rock nearly surrounding its circumference, which 
was, at several points, a little higher than the 
ground in the rear. Immediately on reaching 
this basin, the men took possession of these 
slight elevations and constructed rifle pits out of 
the loose rocks which were lying around in pro- 
fusion. Thus they were able to hold the Indians 
at long range. In the little basin there were 
three clumps of willows, each of which contained 
a spring of good water. The men crowded their 
horses into the two larger bunches of willows, 
tying them as best they could, and in the smaller 
bunch they placed their provisions in charge of 
their German cook, who at once, threw up a 
breast- work of sods on the exposed sides for a 
protection from the fire of the enemy. 

Four rifle-pits, large enough to accommodate 
two men each, were constructed at such points 
as would cover the camp; a larger one that re- 
sembled a stone corral, and capable of holding all 
the men if necessary, was built the first night. 

Over this miniature fortress the American 
flag was flown, its staff being the largest willow 
they could find in the basin. From this main 
fort, the men in the rifle pits were relieved at 
intervals. No regular meals were served; the 
position occupied by the cook and the provision? 
was about sixty yards from the main fortifica- 
tion, and since the intervening ground was swept 
by fire from the Indians' guns, refreshments 



340 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

were served usually at night. These meals con- 
sisted of raw bacon, hard-tack and cold coffee. 
If the cook attempted to build a fire at night, it 
at once became a target. 

One of the men composing the original party 
was named Thomas Caton. He gave his resi- 
dence as "Long Tom," Oregon. He was a man 
of refined tastes and literary attainments. Prior 
to the general attack at the Owyhee Crossing, the 
company had encountered several small predatory 
squads of Indians, and had annihilated them and 
taken their saddle animals. 

Caton, who kept a diary in which he recorded 
events, had written up these encounters as they 
occurred from day to day. 

During the second day of their besiegement, 
Caton and a comrade were assigned to a rifle- 
pit that protected the north side of the camp. 
Loose rock being scarce in that locality, the walls 
of the rifle-pit were low, and, consequently, the 
men kept their lonely and dangerous watch while 
in a recumbent position. When Caton entered 
this post he began to write up his diary, and 
while in the middle of a sentence his attention 
had probably been attracted by the breaking of 
a twig, and, upon raising his head to look for 
the cause of the noise, he was shot in the fore- 
head — his blood punctuating the last lines he 
had written. 

His comrade remained in the rifle-pit with 
the dead man during the afternoon and evening, 
until it was sufficiently dark for him to make his 



MANY AFFAIRS OF INTEREST 341 

escape without observation. He then came in 
and reported the tragedy, bringing the dead 
man's weapons and the diary that had ended so 
tragically. That rifle-pit was not regarrisoned, 
and although Caton's body was not removed until 
the second night after his death, his scalp was 
not taken nor was he mutilated in any manner 
by the Indians. He was buried in a shallow 
grave near the place where he was shot, and a 
mound of lava rocks was raised to mark the spot. 

Since those strenuous days that little basin 
where the battle occurred, has become a watering 
place for thousands of sheep, and during each 
spring and early summer, the young lambs gam- 
bol above the ashes of him who met such a 
tragic end. 

During the retreat, which covered about 
three miles and the more than three days' fight, 
Caton was the only man killed — one other being 
wounded, but he recovered. 

The alarm that was sounded in Silver City 
and Ruby on the arrival of the scouts was com- 
municated to the detached camps down Reynolds 
Creek, and reached the camp of the U. S. In- 
fantry, who were located above Booneville. The 
captain in command ordered the pack-train driv- 
en in at once, and then mounting his men as 
best he could, without saddles, took the trail 
in pursuit of the volunteers, who had already 
started, and thus equipped, they arrived at the 
battle-ground within an hour after the citizen's 
rescue party reached that locality. 



342 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

As before stated, court was being held in 
Ruby City at the time Jennings' party was at- 
tacked, and when the news arrived that they 
were surrounded with an overwhelming force, 
and were liable to be wiped out, the presiding 
judge announced that when court convened that 
morning, he would adjourn for ten days to per- 
mit the members of the bar, and other attaches of 
the court to go out and fight the Indians. Thus, 
the litigants were given an opportunity to reason 
among themselves, and before the return of 
the lawyers and fighting men, the famous "Poor- 
man' ' case was settled by compromise, each of the 
claimants receiving and retaining an interest in 
the disputed property, the Poorman mine, which 
was an exceedingly valuable property, and which 
afterwards produced millions in wealth for its 
fortunate owners. 

The story of the discovery and development 
of the Owyhee mines, and the subjection of the 
Indians in that district would make a volume of 
intensely interesting matter; but the writer de- 
sires to avoid the criticism that his book is too 
far apart between covers. Hence, he cannot 
devote too much space to one. district. 

A few days after the return of the volun- 
teers, affairs in Owyhee county assumed their 
normal condition, and the mining and reduction 
of ore was given renewed impetus by the settle- 
ment of the Poorman controversy. 

A few weeks later a general election was 
held in the territory, at which one of the prom- 



MANY AFFAIRS OF INTEREST 343 

inent citizens of Owyhee county, a man named 
Fitzpatrick, was a candidate for congress on the 
Republican ticket, but, though he was a capable 
man and made a vigorous canvass, he was over- 
whelmingly defeated by E. D. Holbrook, the then 
incumbent. 

Both conventions were held that year in Boise 
City, the Democratic in Riggs & Agnew's saloon, 
on the corner of Main and Sixth streets, and the 
Republican was held in a building which hap- 
pened to be vacant on the corner of Main and 
Fifth streets. 

Both conventions were lively affairs, but the 
Democrats outclassed the Republicans in the mat- 
ter of sensational episodes, pistol shots having 
been exchanged between two of the delegates, W. 
W. Douthitt and H. C. Street, editor of the Idaho 
World. No one was injured by the shooting, and 
as soon as the smoke had escaped from the room, 
peace was restored and "all went merry as a 
marriage bell." 



CHAPTER XIX. 
SOLDIERS SUPPRESS LEGISLATIVE RIOT. 

THE Fourth Session of the Idaho Territorial 
Legislature convened December 3rd, 1866, 

its membership being as follows: 

COUNCIL. 

E. A. Stevenson Ada County 

H. C. Riggs Ada County 

George Ainslie Boise County 

S. P. Scaniker Boise County 

H. C. Street . Boise County 

S. S. Fenn Idaho County 

L. P. Brown Nez Perce County 

M. A. Carter Oneida County 

R. T. Miller Owyhee County 

W. H. Hudson Shoshone County 

George Ainslie, President. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

A. W. Flournoy Ada County 

G. W. Paul Ada County 

John Cozad Ada County 

Nelson Davis Alturas County 

B. J. Nordyke Alturas County 

J. W. Knight Boise County 

F. W. Bell Boise County 

George Stafford Boise County 



SOLDIERS SUPPRESS LEGISLATIVE RIOT 345 

J. A. Abbott Boise County 

A. P. Mitchell Boise County 

W. L. Law Boise County 

W. H. Parkinson Boise County 

J. C. Harris .'— Idaho County 

A. McDonald Idaho County 

W. W. Thayer Nez Perce County 

J. S. Thayer Nez Perce County 

A. Englis Owyhee County 

Henry Ohle ..• Owyhee County 

D. G. Monroe Owyhee County 

H. T. Caton Owyhee County 

W. F. McMillen Shoshone County 

A. W. Flournoy, Speaker. 

Governor Ballard delivered his message to the 
legislature on the day it convened, both houses 
having promptly organized. The message con- 
tained a great deal of valuable information and 
was well received. Unfortunately during this 
session there were strained relations between 
the majority in both houses and the Territorial 
Secretary, S. R. Howlett, upon whom devolved 
the duties of disbursing officer, among them that 
of paying the salaries of the members, many of 
whom could not yet become reconciled to the out- 
come of the Civil War, which had ended the 
previous year. 

This was shown by the roll-call in the Coun- 
cil, when the passage of the act repealing the 
official oath was effected, as provided for by act 
of the First Session. 

The following is a copy of the proceedings 



346 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

taken from the Session Laws of the Fourth Ses- 
sion, including the names of those councilmen 
who voted to pass the measure, notwithstanding 
the objections of the Governor: 

AN ACT 
To Repeal an Act to Regulate Official Oaths, Ap- 
proved December 28, 1863, and to Prescribe 
an Oath to Be Administered to Public Offi- 
cers in the Territory of Idaho : 

Preamble relating to Official Oaths; 

Oath of members of legislative assembly, 
Sec. 1; 

Oath of officers, attorneys or counselors, 
Sec. 1. 

Oath, form and substance of, Sec. 1; 

Oath, repeal of oath, approved Dec. 28, 1863, 
Sec. 2; 

Whereas,. At the Third Annual Session of 
the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of 
Idaho, "An Act to Repeal an Act to Regulate Of- 
ficial Oaths, approved December 28th, 1863, and 
to Prescribe an Oath to be administered to pub- 
lic Officers in the Territory of Idaho," was 
passed and transmitted to the Governor of the 
Territory by the Committee on "Enrolled and 
Engrossed Bills," and became a law by reason 
of the Governor failing to return the same within 
three days (Sundays excepted) as provided by 
the Organic Act; and 

Whereas, said Bill was published in the Ida- 
ho World, a newspaper published in the County 



SOLDIERS SUPPRESS LEGISLATIVE RIOT 347 

of Boise, and Territory of Idaho, by authority of 
the Legislative Assembly, but was not published 
and does not appear in the bound volume, among 
the Session laws of the Third Session of the Leg- 
islative Assembly; therefore, 
Be It Enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the 

Territory of Idaho, as follows: 

Section 1. That the only oath which shall 
be required of any member of the Legislative 
Assembly, or of any officer who may have been 
elected, appointed or chosen, or who may here- 
after be elected, appointed or chosen, to any office 
within the Territory of Idaho, under the laws 
thereof, before entering upon his duties, or of 
any Attorney or Counselor at Law or Solicitor 
in Chancery of any of the courts in this Terri- 
tory, shall be required to take upon admission to 
practice, shall be as follows: I, (here name of 
the person and the office to which he has been 
elected, or appointed, or chosen) do solemnly 
swear (or affirm) that I will support the Consti- 
tution of the United States and the Organic Act 
of this Territory; and that I will faithfully and 
truly perform all the duties which may be re- 
quired by law, to the best of my ability, so 
help me God. 

Sec. 2. That "An Act to Repeal an Act to 
Regulate Official Oaths/' approved December 
28th, 1863, and to prescribe an oath to be admin- 
istered to Public officers in the Territory of 
Idaho, enacted at the Third Session of the Legis- 
lative Assembly, and all and any acts contraven- 



348 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

ing this Act, be and the same are hereby re- 
pealed. 

Sec. 3. This act to take effect and be in 
force after ten days from the date of its becom- 
ing a law. 

I hereby certify that the foregoing Council 
Bill No. 9 passed the Council December 27th, 
1866, the question being: Shall the Bill pass; 
notwithstanding the objections of the Governor, 
Ayes — Messrs. Carter, Fenn, Miller, Riggs, Scan- 
iker, Stevenson, Street, and Mr. President — 8; 
Nays — Messrs. Brown and Hudson — 2. 
Geo. Ainslie, 

President of the Council. 
Attest: Chas. C. Dudley, 

Secretary. 

The folly of these men in thus perpetuating 
the bitterness of a civil war already ended, cul- 
minated in their refusal to take the oath of 
loyalty required by act of congress, which pro- 
vided that "hereafter every person elected or 
appointed to any office of honor or profit, under 
the Government of the United States, in either 
civil, military or the naval department of the 
public service, excepting the President of the 
United States, shall, before entering upon the 
duties of such office, and before being entitled 
to any of the salary or other emoluments thereof, 
take and subscribe to the following oath or affir- 
mation." 

Then followed the obligation which a major- 
ity of the members of both houses of the Fourth 



SOLDIERS SUPPRESS LEGISLATIVE RIOT 349 

Session of the Idaho Legislature refused to take, 
and as a consequence, the Territorial Secretary, 
S. R. Howlett, would not pay them their per diem 
or mileage. , 

When informed of his decision, the members 
organized "rough houses," and proceeded to 
break the furniture and throw it out the windows. 
Governor Ballard requisitioned the commanding 
officer at Boise Barracks for troops to suppress 
the disturbance, and they were promptly fur- 
nished, appearing at rest in front of the legis- 
lative halls within an hour; and within the next 
half -hour the Idaho Solons had all subscribed to 
the oath and received their pay. Thus ended 
the most puerile happening that was ever enacted 
in the history of the Territory. 

An effort was made to create a sentiment 
against Howlett, for refusing to pay the members 
unless they subscribed to the oath; but the law 
was explicit. The Department required that the 
oath, subscribed by each member, should accom- 
pany and be a part of his vouchers. 

The foregoing unwarranted disgraceful oc- 
currence was the closing event of the Fourth 
Session. 

Fortunately for the interest of the taxpay- 
ers, congress amended the act providing for an 
annual session of the Idaho Legislature, and au- 
thorized the holding of biennial sessions; conse- 
quently the Fifth Session did not convene until 
December 7, 1868. 

During the years 1867-1868, a noticeable 



350 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

change had occurred in the types of new arrivals 
in the Territory, many of whom consisted of 
families who brought with them their household 
goods, , and were prepared to make permanent 
homes. Especially was this apparent in the 
Payette and Boise valleys and their tributaries. 
The original locators having, in many instances 
returned to their former homes, their locations 
were occupied by the new arrivals, who, in most 
cases, intended to found lasting homes. 

The Union Pacific and the Central Pacific 
railroads were nearing completion, and this fact, 
no doubt, had an influence in diverting immigra- 
tion to South Idaho. 

The vote cast for Delegate to Congress in 
1868 revealed that the voting population had de- 
creased during the previous two years. This was 
due to the fact that, while many permanent set- 
tlers had arrived during this time, a large num- 
ber of placer miners had departed for their for- 
mer homes, while others had abandoned the terri- 
tory in search of new fields. 

The fifth session of the Territorial Legisla- 
ture which convened in Boise City on Dec. 7th, 
1868 was composed with one exception of new 
members; they were a conservative body, and 
while they enacted but few laws, they adjourned 
at the end of the session without having done 
any harm. 

• The same tribute may be paid to the mem- 
bers of the sixth session which assembled on the 
8th day of December, 1870. 



SOLDIERS SUPPRESS LEGISLATIVE RIOT 351 

The Seventh session began its labors on the 
second day of December, 1872, and adjourned on 
the 10th day of January, 1873. Its membership 
being composed of men who intended to remain 
permanently in Idaho, they were careful in the 
enactment of laws to avoid any unnecessary in- 
crease in taxes. 

All new Territories suffer great inconven- 
ience from the lack of surveys, which require 
both time and money to accomplish. Idaho suf- 
fered severely from neglect on the part of Con- 
gress to make the necessary appropriations to 
meet the contingency of making surveys of the 
agricultural lands to accommodate the require- 
ments of actual settlers. 

At the time Idaho Territory was organized 
the Nation was in the throes of civil war, and 
for many years thereafter its treasury was de- 
pleted by meeting the expenses incident to that 
contest; therefore it was not the fault of Con- 
gress, or neglect of our Delegates thereto, that 
appropriations for surveys, and other improve- 
ments incident to the development of a new 
country were deferred. 

During the second session of the 38th Con- 
gress, Mr. Wallace, then Delegate from Idaho, 
succeeded in having the Sundry Civil Appropria- 
tion Bill amended so as to provide $10,000 "for 
surveys in Idaho," and the office of U. S. Sur- 
veyor General for Idaho was organized -ana 
opened for business in November, 1866. 

The initial point from which all Townships 



352 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

number to the north and south, and Ranges to 
the east and west, was established by Peter W. 
Bell, U. S. Deputy Surveyor, under contract No. 
1, from the office of the U. S. Surveyor General, 
on April 19th, 1867, in Ada County, Territory of 
Idaho, and was composed of a "pine post in top 
of mound of stone, 6 ft. base and 6 ft. high, 
with a stone 14x12x4 inches marked with a 
x laid on north side of post." The foregoing 
described mound of stone was located on a high 
point of a rocky butte standing isolated upon 
the plain between Snake and Boise Rivers, in 
latitude 43 degrees, 26 minutes North and about 
19 miles southwest from Boise. 

Those assisting in establishing the monu- 
ment, and the subsequent survey of the Boise 
Base Line were: D. F. Baker, A. B. Plume, J. C. 
Deaver and M. B. Hill, chainmen; assisted by 
Samuel Loft and B. C. Franklin, axmen. 

The first public survey of any kind in Idaho 
was run on the Boise Base Line from the estab- 
lished initial point, west throungh T. 1. N., R. 1 
W. on April 19th, 1867. 

The first survey on the Boise Meridian, was 
run from the initial point in Ada county, through 
T. 1 S., R. 1 E. and R. 1 W. by Peter W. Bell, 
U. S. Deputy Surveyor, under his contract No. 1 
on April 28th, 1867, with the same assistants he 
had in the survey of the Base Line. 

The first Township subdivided in Ada county 
and in the Territory of Idaho, was T. 4 N. R 1 
W. by Allen M. Thompson, U. S. Deputy Survey- 



SOLDIERS SUPPRESS LEGISLATIVE RIOT 353 

or under contract No. 5, which survey was com- 
pleted on September 8, 1867, and the plats were 
filed with the Register of the U. S. Land Office 
at Boise City on January 17th, 1868. 

The first Township subdivided in Boise 
county was T. 5 N., R. 2 E., which was partly 
surveyed by Peter W. Bell; his survey was com- 
pleted March 27, 1868. The plat of said town- 
ship was filed with the Register of the U. S. Land 
Office at Boise City, on April 18, 1868. 

The first Township subdivided in Idaho 
County was T. 30 N., R. 3 E., which was partly 
surveyed by Allen M. Thompson, U. S. Deputy 
Surveyor; his survey being completed on Aug- 
ust 9, 1869. The plat of said township was filed 
with the Register of the U. S. Land Office at 
Lewiston, Idaho Territory on October 23, 1869. 

The first subdivisional survey of a township 
in Nez Perce county was made in T. 34 N., R. 4 
W. by David P. Thompson, U. S. Deputy Survey- 
or, who partly subdivided the same under his 
contract dated December 23, 1869, his survey 
being completed April 22, 1870. The plat of 
said survey was filed in the Lewiston Land Office 
on January 27, 1871. 

The first mineral surveying in the Territory 
of Idaho, was let to James H. Slater as Contract 
No. 1 dated July 18, 1870, for surveying mineral 
claims in the mineral district of Alturas county. 

During the subsequent decade, from 1870 to 
1880 the appropriations made by Congress for 
surveying the public domain in Idaho were more 

23 E. H. I. 



354 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

liberal, but at all times prior to the admission of 
the Territory as a State, and even since, the lo- 
cations of settlers have been in advance of the 
surveys. 



CHAPTER XX. 

INDIAN WARS IN IDAHO. 

'"T^HE Eighth Session of the Idaho Legislature 
-■* convened at the capital on the 7th day of 
December, 1874, and adjourned on the 15th day of 
January, 1875. The political divisions of the 
Territory represented in that session, together 
with the representation of each were as follows: 

House of 
Council Representatives 

Ada County 2 4 

Alturas County 1 2 

Boise County 3 8 

Idaho County 



Lemhi County 

Nez Perce County 

Oneida County 

Owyhee County ... 
Shoshone County . 



12 26 

One of the prominent incongruities of the 
early business management of Idaho Territory 
is found in the fact that the Legislature while 
providing for the collection of revenue to con- 
duct the various departments of its government, 



356 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

left to the County Commissioners the duty of 
fixing the per cent, which the Tax Collector 
should retain out of all taxes collected as a 
recompense for his services in collecting the 
same. 

The following is a sample of the fees al- 
lowed for collecting the Territorial portion of the 
revenue, in the counties named: 

Alturas County charges 38 per cent. 

Ada County charges 16 per cent. 

Boise County charges . 23 per cent. 

Lemhi County charges 45 per cent. 

Idaho County charges 43 per cent. 

Nez Perce County charges 33 per cent. 

Owyhee County charges 21 per cent. 

Oneida County charges 28 per cent. 

Shoshone County charges 36 per cent. 

The eighth session of the Territorial Legis- 
lature enacted a new revenue law which was ap- 
proved January 15, 1875; section 104 of the act 
being as follows: i 

Sec. 104. The collectors of taxes in the 
counties of this Territory shall be allowed for 
collecting all taxes (except poll taxes) the fol- 
lowing rates on all monies co" letted and pnid 
over by them in each fiscal year, commencing on 
the first Monday of April, ten per centum on the 
first ten thousand dollars ; four per centum on all 
over ten thousand and under twenty thousand 
dollars; three per centum on all over twenty 
thousand, and under fifty thousand dollars; two 
per centum on all over fifty thousand and under 



INDIAN WARS IN IDAHO 357 

one hundred thousand dollars, and one per 
centum on all over one hundred thousand and 
under two hundred thousand dollars; Provided: 
that the assessor, as ex-officio tax collector shall 
be allowed on all collections on subsequent assess- 
ments assessed after the first Monday in August, 
twenty-five per cent on the first ten thousand dol- 
lars, and ten per cent on all over ten thousand 
dollars; but shall receive no per diem pay for 
making any subsequent assessment or for col- 
lecting poll or other per capita taxes. 

It will be observed that under the preceding 
section it was greatly to the advantage of the 
assessor to delay the work of his office so as to 
obtain the fee of twenty-five per cent on all 
assessments made after the first Monday in 
August. 

The decade including 1871 and 1880 was 
perhaps the most trying period in the history of 
Idaho Territory; up to 1870 the chief industry 
was placer mining, and the number of men em- 
ployed in that enterprise, together with those in 
the towns and camps supported directly by the 
miners provided an excellent market for all 
kinds of farm produce raised in the valleys. 

It seldom requires many years to exhaust 
the wealth of the average placer mining camp, 
and while the placer mines discovered in Idaho 
were no doubt more than average in extent and 
productiveness, yet hundreds of the best pro- 
ducing claims were exhausted within the first 



358 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

five years after their discovery; hence each suc- 
ceeding year added to the melancholy of the 
situation, until eventually, and that too within 
ten years after the discovery of Boise Basin, 
hundreds of cabins on the hill-sides and in the 
gulches were left tenantless and alone among 
the whispering pines. 

While it is true that many valuable proper- 
ties continued to produce sufficient gold dust to 
justify the employment of a large number of 
men for many years later, yes even up to pres- 
ent writing, yet the great rush had come and 
gone between the years 1863 and 1870, and those 
who remained were required to adjust them- 
selves to the changed condition. 

During the decade to which reference is 
made many rich mineral lodes were discovered, 
carrying lead, silver, gold and copper; especially 
were the counties of Alturas and Shoshone found 
to be rich in the precious metals, but owing to 
lack of transportation, many of the properties 
which afterwards became famous, had not been 
sufficiently developed to give employment to 
many men, hence the attention of new arrivals 
in the country was directed to its possibilities in 
agriculture and stock raising. 

Those farmers who from the first settle- 
ment of Boise and Payette valleys, as well as 
those who had settled in Idaho and Nez Perce 
counties, had proved the character and fertility 
of the soil and left nothing to conjecture as to 
the future possibilities of Idaho as an agricul- 
tural state. 



INDIAN WARS IN IDAHO 359 

Experiments in farming had been success- 
fully made not only in the localities mentioned, 
but also in Malad Valley, Cache Valley, Bear 
Lake Valley and in other then isolated locali- 
ties. 

The experience. of those who first attempted 
farming in Idaho county, revealed that while the 
valleys of Snake river, and its tributaries in 
South Idaho, required irrigation to admit of suc- 
cessful cultivation, the bench lands or plateaux 
adjacent to Craig's Mountain and the Coeur 
d'Alenes are not surpassed in fertility by any 
other agricultural lands of equal area in the 
United States, the rainfall there being suffi- 
cient to insure bountiful harvests. As soon 
as this became known to the public, a rush 
of homeseekers followed, and Idaho, Nez Perce 
and what is called the Palouse country today, 
were quickly settled and transformed into fertile, 
productive farms. 

The foregoing advance of what is called 
"civilization" was accomplished by appropriating 
the hunting and Camas grounds of the Indians 
who, for generations, yes perhaps since time be- 
gan, had owned and occupied them. We simply 
moved in, and without asking for permission, 
took possession. 

When we admit, as we must, that the occu- 
pation by the whites of the most fertile valleys 
and the best grazing lands brought the pinch of 
hunger to many an Indian tepee, is it to be won- 
dered that the brigandage we practiced was re- 



3 60 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

sented in the only manner they recognized — an 
appeal to arms? I am aware, that in those days 
many men declared that the only "good Indian is 
a dead one,' but that does not alleviate the sad- 
ness of it all. 

In their efforts to conquer the wilderness, 
which included the Indian, many lives were lost, 
many homes made desolate, but upon the ashes 
of these and similar tragedies had arisen not 
only the commonwealth of Idaho, but the Union 
of States of which she is an important factor. 
Our only justification lies in the claim, that "the 
march of progress means the survival of the 
fittest." 

Resentment of the advent of the first set- 
tlers in Bear Lake Valley was so pronounced, 
and the danger of hostilities so imminent, that 
the families were grouped in what is now Paris, 
the county seat of Bear Lake county, each fam- 
ily being apportioned a small tract of ground 
for a house and garden, while the male members 
of the family located land up and dowr the val- 
ley, as near as practicable to their families; a 
company of minute men was organized, with 
horses ever saddled and ready to fall into line 
to proceed to the rescue, or defense of the 
women and children if occasion required ; a look- 
out being posted to give the agreed signal if 
hostilities were observed. The fears of those 
fathers, or the tears of those mothers whose 
little ones were exposed to such terrible danger 
can hardly be imagined by those who visit that 
peaceful valley today. 



INDIAN WARS IN IDAHO 361 

The hostilities of those Indians, allied with 
others, finally culminated in a battle with a 
body of U. S. troops led by General Connor. The 
battle occurred on Bear River at the confluence 
of a little creek, since known as "Battle Creek/' 
the engagement being fought a few miles from 
the present location of the prosperous town of 
Preston in Oneida county. The battle was fierce- 
ly contested by both Indians and soldiers and 
raged for several hours, but the troops were 
finally victorious, although great bravery was 
displayed by the Indians, most of them fighting 
to their death, and the few who escaped broken- 
hearted and dispirited, never ralied to offer other 
resistance to their invaders. 

Although the early history of Idaho is re- 
plete with Indian outbreaks entailing heavy loss 
and much suffering upon the settlers, such out- 
breaks were usually local in character and con- 
sequently being met and quelled by volunteers 
did not attain to the magnitude of a "war," but 
eventually an Indian war was precipitated upon 
the settlers in Idaho county which swept por- 
tions of that county with the besom of destruc- 
tion, leaving in its wake the horrors and atro- 
cities of Indian warfare. 

Chief Joseph, the leader and head of a pow- 
erful branch or tribe of the Nez Perce nation of 
Indians, being resentful of wrongs, real, or im- 
aginary, without warning, swooped down upon 
the unsuspecting and unprepared settlers on 
Salmon River and Camas Prairie, leaving in the 



362 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

wake of himself and warriors, a trail of desola- 
tion and woe, never to be forgotten so long as 
any of the witnesses of the tragedy or their 
descendents live to relate the details of the hor- 
rors enacted. 

U. S. troops under General Howard were 
despatched to the scene of the massacre as quick- 
ly as possible, and they, supported by local vol- 
unteers took the field against the Indians. Sev- 
eral engagements occurred but no decisive vic- 
tory was gained over the Indians, who finally 
crossed the Clearwater River and took the Lo-Lo 
Trail into Montana, where they were afterward 
surrounded and captured, Joseph and his re- 
maining warriors being exiled to Oklahoma and 
after being held there for a time they were re- 
turned to the Colville Reservation in the State 
of Washington, where he died a few years later. 

Those who fell victims of the Joseph out- 
break were in no manner responsible for the 
violation of treaty obligations which he claimed 
as the cause for his resort to arms, yet under 
the methods of Indian warfare all who were 
white suffer alike. Innocence is no defense. 

It is an injustice to charge the Indian war 
of 1877 to the Nez Perce Indians as a Tribe. 
The contest was precipitated by Chief Joseph 
and his band ; and while it is true they were Nez 
Perce Indians, yet their tribal organization was 
separate and distinct; Joseph being their chief. 
The Nez Perces proper were always friendly to 
the whites, and so remained during the Chief 
Joseph imbroglio. 



INDIAN WARS IN IDAHO 363 

The Indian outbreak of 1877, was succeeded 
the following year, 1878, by an uprising of the 
Bannock Indians, who being eventually joined 
by renegade remnants of other tribes, after 
leaving Camas Prairie the scene of their first 
murderous attack, spread over the country west- 
ward and to the south glutting their savage in- 
stincts with murder and rapine; crossing Snake 
River they swept through Owyhee county into 
Oregon, extending their depredations as far west 
as John Day Valley. Although pursued almost 
from their start by both volunteer and regular 
soldiers, the movements of the Indians were so 
rapid and erratic, that it was difficult to force 
them into a general engagement, although sev- 
eral desperate skirmishes were fought, in which 
many of the Indians, as well as several soldiers 
were killed, finally to avoid capture or annihila- 
tion they scattered into small bands and taking 
to the hills and mountains made their way back 
as best they could to the protection of their 
reservation. 

The Bannock war with all its attendant 
horrors, cost of suppression, destruction of prop- 
erty, and loss of life, was precipitated by an 
error made by a clerk or stenographer in trans- 
cribing the treaty, which was written and rati- 
fied by the U. S. Senate Feb. 16, 1869, and pro- 
vided that, "It is agreed that whenever the Ban- 
nocks desire a reservation to be set apart for 
their use, or whenever the President of the 
United States shall deem it advisable for them 



364 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

to be put upon a reservation, he shall cause one 
to be selected for them in their present country, 
which shall embrace reasonable portions of the 
Port-Neuf and Kansas Prairie countries." There 
being no such prairie as "Kansas Prairie" and 
Camas Prairie being one of the most valuable 
possessions of the Bannock Indians, it is reason- 
able to suppose that it was agreed in the treaty 
that the Indians should be allowed to retain a 
part of their Camas ground, but the clerk who 
transcribed the Treaty had probably never heard 
of the blue flowered lily of the north-western 
states called "Camas," and being familiar with 
the name "Kansas" wrote in "Kansas Prairie," 
when it was the intent of the treaty makers that 
the Bannocks should be allowed to retain a 
reasonable portion of Camas prairie. 

Those whose duty it was to see that the 
treaty was carried out, should have performed 
that duty, and prevented the settlers from en- 
croaching upon the ground where the Indians 
were acustomed to harvest their annual crop of 
camas, but no protection was given to the 
treaty rights of the Bannocks, and when they 
discovered their harvest being destroyed by the 
white man's hogs, forbearance ceased to be a 
virtue, and they appealed to the only arbiter they 
knew, the God of Battle. The writer being one 
of the first trespassers on Camas prairie, must 
admit that the Indians under their code of mor- 
als and government, had ample justification for 
the methods they pursued. 



INDIAN WARS IN IDAHO 365 

Many valuable lives were lost, much suffer- 
ing endured, and property destroyed during the 
Bannock war; besides which the development of 
the country was retarded, and the government 
as well as the Territory compelled to meet an 
enormous expense in its suppression, all origin- 
ating, as is shown to be probable, by an error 
in the use of a word. 

During the year 1879, central Idaho, in- 
cluding the Salmon river country, was afflicted 
with what proved to be but a miniature Indian 
war, but insignificant as were its proportions it 
cost the lives of many persons, and required the 
employment of several companies of regular 
soldiers accompanied and aided by volunteer 
scouts, to suppress and capture the "hostiles," 
which was finally accomplished. 

The Indians who were engaged in this out- 
break were what were known as "Sheep Eaters," 
a small aggregation composed of Shoshones, Ban- 
nocks and renegades from other tribes. It is 
doubtful whether they numbered more than one 
hundred and fifty, all told, but they were moun- 
tain Indians, and like all of that type, were 
strong, active men and women, capable of en- 
during great hardship, and if need be, could 
subsist for days on very meager rations; born 
and reared as most of them had been among the 
canyons and crags of the Salmon river moun- 
tains, they were familiar with every gorge, 
defile and trail, from the Rocky Mountains on the 
east to the Blue Mountains on the west; conse- 



366 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

quently the task of overtaking and capturing 
them was an arduous one. The regular troops 
detailed to make the capture were reinforced by 
a body of Umatilla Indian scouts, and a com- 
pany of citizen scouts under the command of 
Colonel Orlando Robbins, than whom no better 
trailer or fighter could have been chosen; and 
the men directly under his command were of the 
best the country could afford, all trained in the 
use of arms, and experienced in Indian warfare, 
good trailers, good shots, and brave to the verge 
of recklessness. It is not possible in this narra- 
tive to mention the name of each individual 
scout who distinguished himself while serving 
under Colonel Robbins in this or the two pre- 
ceding campaigns; as a troop, as a unit, no body 
of men could have performed better or braver 
service; always at the front, theirs were the 
posts of greatest danger. This tribute to their 
gallantry and worth is not designed to detract 
from the merit of the brave officers and men of 
the U. S. army who served through the same 
campaigns; there were no drones, no cowards, in 
the field during those strenuous years. 

I would be doing less than my duty to the 
memory of an old comrade and one-time fellow 
officer if I closed this synopsis of Idaho's Indian 
wars without making more particular mention 
of the brave chief of scouts who fought through 
them all, Col. Orlando Robbins, who was widely 
and familiarly known as "Rube" Robbins. He 
first appeared prominently before the people of 



INDIAN WARS IN IDAHO 367 

Idaho Territory during the summer of 1862. He 
was chosen to act as one of the floor managers 
at a ball to be given in Florence July 4th that 
year, his associate manager being a man named 
Jakey Williams. 

Florence at the time named for the ball was 
in the heydey of its mining prosperity, and the 
giving of a ball was designed to provide amuse- 
ment and entertainment for the respectable ele- 
ment in the town; those wives who had accom- 
panied their husbands to the new Eldorado in 
search of wealth were to supply the respecta- 
bility. 

To manage such a ball as the one proposed, 
and preserve a proper semblance of decorum was 
a difficult problem, owing to the cosmopolitan 
character of the population of Florence at that 
time. It was the recognition of that fact which 
led to the selection of Rube and Jakey to act 
as managers. 

It was after the festivities had fairly com- 
menced and many eyes spoke love to other 
men's wives, that a noted gambler made his 
appearance in the ball room, bringing with him 
the well known mistress of another gambler. 
The indignation of the ladies present was made 
known to the floor managers with the request 
that the two objectionable characters be re- 
quested to leave the room. The floor-managers 
complied with the request, and the gambler and 
his partner, when told that their presence was 
not agreeable, quietly left the hall. The forego- 



368 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

ing episode resulted in an attack being made by 
the paramour of the woman who was requested 
to leave the ball, and the man who took her 
there, on the managers. The difficulty was pre- 
cipitated the following day, and resulted in a 
double funeral, both gamblers being killed in the 
pistol duel which ensued. Cherokee Bob cho3e 
Rube as the object of his wrath and in doing 
so made a fatal mistake. The ball given on the 
evening of July 4th, 1862, and its attendant 
tragedy, was a prominent event in the history 
of that erstwhile city, and has been recorded in 
a former chapter. 

Rube Robbins' name was a synonym for 
honesty and bravery, and during his eventful 
and useful life he filled many positions of honor 
and trust. He was feared, yet respected by 
every bad man and "gun-fighter" who ever so- 
journed in Idaho, and it is doubtful if any offi- 
cer made more arrests of that class than he. He 
was brave to the limit, yet tended-hearted as a 
child; vigorous of mind and body, he endured 
the hardships of the frontiers, survived the dan- 
gers of many battles, and finally followed the 
majority of his pioneer friends and comrades 
who had preceded him. He now lies peacefully 
in the beautiful Boise Valley, awaiting the final 
call. He was in life a sturdy and brave com- 
rade, a true and loyal friend. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. 

/ ""p v HE years following 1880, and including 
-*- 1889, witnessed the most extensive and 
permanent improvements yet made within the 
Territory, railroad building being extensively 
prosecuted during those years. 

During that era the Oregon Short Line, the 
Utah Northern, and the Wood River and the 
Boise branches were completed; also the North- 
ern Pacific, and the Moscow branch of the 0. 
R. & N. A line of railroad had also been built 
into Wardner and Wallace, giving impetus to the 
development of the Coeur d'Alene mines, the 
permanency and value of which had already been 
determined. New and prosperous towns sprung 
into existence like magic, while the old and 
fossilized marts of trade took on new life. Each 
succeeding month brought new arrivals of men 
and women who brought their household goods 
and were prepared to make Idaho their future 
home. School houses were built, churches erect- 
ed, and a spirit of peace and prosperity pre- 
vailed. 

The Indians which had caused so much trou- 
ble were assigned to their respective reservations, 
and confidence in the future of Idaho had arrived 

24 E. H. I. 



370 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

to remain. The mines were yielding their annual 
output of the precious metals, without stint or 
diminution, the hills and valleys were dotted with 
flocks and herds, the farmers rejoiced in boun- 
tiful harvests, and the enjoyment of peaceful 
homes. The rollicking cowboy, the modest and 
retiring shepherd, the lusty miner and the bois- 
terous lumber-jack, all, all, were happy and con- 
tent. 

But little historical interest is attached to 
any of the proceedings of the succeeding sessions 
of the Idaho Territorial Legislature, except it 
may be of interest to future residents of this 
country to know that it was the practice for a 
number of years for the Territorial Legislature 
to dissolve the bonds of matrimony; the mem- 
bers not only enacted laws, but sat as a divorce 
court. 

The following is a sample of the manner in 
which divorces were formally granted in Idaho 
Territory : 

DIVORCING — FALLON & FALLON. 

AN ACT 
To Dissolve the Bonds of Matrimony now Exist- 
ing Between Martin Fallon and Mary Fallon, 
his Wife. 

Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly 
of the Territory of Idaho, as follows : 

Section 1. That the bonds of matrimony 
heretofore and now existing, between Martin 
Fallon and Mary Fallon, his wife, be, and the 
same are hereby dissolved, and declared void. 



CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 371 

Sec. 2. This act shall take effect and be in 
force from and after its passage. 

Approved February 9, 1881. 

The foregoing is but one of several similar 
acts recorded in the General Laws of Idaho Ter- 
ritory. (See Enactments of Ninth, Tenth and 
Eleventh Sessions, 1876-1881.) 

While the resources of Idaho were undergo- 
ing such rapid development during the decade be- 
tween and including the years 1880 and 1889, 
the adjacent territories of Montana, Wyoming, 
and Washington were enjoying a similar degree 
of prosperity, the territories of Montana and 
Washington having outstripped the Territory of 
Idaho in population. 

All the territories were now anxious to be 
admitted to statehood, but especially persistent 
were the two Dakotas, Montana, Washington and 
Idaho. The four first mentioned were believed to 
have sufficient population and taxable wealth to 
entitle them to admission, consequently enabling 
acts were passed looking to that object, but the 
population of Idaho, as well as that of Wyoming, 
was deemed insufficient to entitle them to equal 
rank with the older and larger commonwealths. 
Both the territories of Wyoming and Idaho, be- 
ing especially favored with the possession of that 
particular type of genus homo in whom tenacity 
of purpose is largely developed, resolved to con- 
tinue their efforts for admission. 

On April 2, 1889, the Territorial Governor, 
Hon. E. A. Stevenson, issued a proclamation re- 



372 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

questing the people to elect delegates to a consti- 
tutional convention to meet in Boise City at noon, 
the fourth day of July of that year. This meet- 
ing was to be held for the purpose of framing a 
constitution for the proposed state of Idaho and 
the proclamation prescribed the qualifications 
and apportionment of members, who were to 
total seventy-two. The proclamation thus issued 
was not authorized by law, and consequently the 
county commissioners could not appoint election 
officers, or use public funds to pay them for their 
services; nor was there any provision to pay the 
per diem and mileage of the delegates. 

The foregoing call failed in its purpose of 
convening a constitutional convention, and Hon. 
George L. Shoup, who was appointed April 1, 
1889, to succeed Governor Stevenson to the office 
of Governor of Idaho Territory, issued another 
call on May 11, 1889. Governor Shoup's call 
was slightly different from the one issued by 
Governor Stevenson and resulted in the choos- 
ing of delegates to a convention to be assembled 
at Boise City July 4, 1889 — at the same time and 
place named in the former call. 

There were, and perhaps are, even today, 
persons who cannot conceive how it might be 
possible for an assemblage of citizens, such as 
composed the convention which framed the con- 
stitution of Idaho, to be called without an effort 
being made to secure some advantage for one 
of the political parties. But, if such an effort 
was made, it failed in its accomplishment, for in 



CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 373 

no manner could there have been chosen an 
equal number of delegates who would have been 
more earnest in their endeavor to promote in an 
unselfish and non-partisan manner the welfare of 
the proposed state of Idaho. They labored faith- 
fully and arduously, and the result of their 
efforts was a constitution than which no better 
was ever presented to any constituency for rati- 
fication. 

All questions likely to interest the people 
were covered, and it provided for an economical 
administration of state government. 

Its various articles were discussed, section 
after section, by the able lawyers who were mem- 
bers of the convention — not as the attorneys of 
certain interests, but as patriotic and loyal citi- 
zens, which they were. 

The members concluded their labors and 
affixed their signatures to the instrument which 
they had drafted, on the sixth day of August, 
1889. 

The following persons were duly accredited 
delegates to the convention which framed the 
constitution of the State of Idaho, all of whom 
affixed their signatures thereto except P. J. 
Pefley, of Ada County : 

Wm. H. Claggett, Pres. Wm. H. Hammell. 

Geo. Ainslie. H. S. Hampton. 

W. C. B. Allen. H. 0. Harkness. 

Robt. Anderson Frank Harris. 

H. Armstrong. Sol. Hasbrouck. 

Orlando B. Batten. C. M. Hays. 



374 



EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 



Frank W. Beane. 
Jas. H. Beatty. 
J. W. Ballentine. 
A. D. Bevan 
Henry B. Blake 
Frederick Campbell. 
Frank P. Cavanah. 
A. S. Chaney. 
Chas. A. Clark. 
I. N. Coston. 
Jas. I. Crutcher. 
Stephen S. Glidden. 
John S. Gray. 
John T. Morgan. 
Aaron F. Parker. 
A. J. Pinkham. 
P. J. Pefley. 
W. D. Robbins. 
Aug. M. Sinnott. 
Drew W. Standrod. 
Frank Steunenberg. 
Sam F. Taylor. 
J. L. Underwood. 
John Lemp. 
N. I. Andrews. 
J. W. Brigham. 



W. B. Heyburn. 
John Hogan. 
J. M. Howe. 
E. S. Jewell. 
Geo. W. King. 
H. B. Kinport. 
Jas. W. Lamoreaux. 
John Lewis. 
Wm. C. Maxey. 
A. E. Mayhew. 
W. J. McConnell. 
Henry Melder. 
John H. Meyer. 
A. B. Moss. 
A. J. Pierce. 
J. W. Poe. 
Jas. W. Reid. 
Wm. H. Savidge. 
James M. Shoup. 
Homer Stull. 
Willis Sweet. 
Lycurgus Vineyard. 
J. S. Whitton. 
Edgar Wilson. 
W. W. Woods. 
Samuel J. Pritchard. 



Mr. Pefley explained his reason for refusing 
to sign the instrument he had helped to create 
as follows: 

"I always think consistency is a jewel highly 
prized, and inasmuch as there are sections in 
there that I could not endorse when they passed 



CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 375 

as sections or articles, I cannot now conscien- 
tiously sign the constitution and therefore ask 
to be excused." 

Mr. Pefley objected to the preamble, which 
is as follows: "We, the people of the state of 
Idaho, grateful to Almighty God for our free- 
dom, to secure its blessings and promote our 
common welfare, do establish this constitution." 

John S. Gray, who was also a member from 
Ada county, explained Pefley's action by stating 
that Pefley had had a "falling out with God," and 
was not willing to tender him an expression of 
gratitude. 

A committee of ten members was appointed 
to draft an address to the people, the following 
being a copy of the address they reported : 
ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF IDAHO. 

Boise City, August 6, 1889. 
To the People of Idaho: 

The convention convened at Boise City on 
July 4, 1889, to frame a constitution for the 
state of Idaho, has completed its labors. 

The constitution so framed will be submitted 
to you for approval or rejection on November 5, 
1889. 

Before adjournment, the convention by 
resolution appointed the undersigned as a com- 
mittee to lay before you the reasons why the 
constitution should be adopted, and this duty we 
now fulfil. 

DISADVANTAGES OF A TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT. 

The territorial system of government under 
which we have lived for the past twenty-six years 



370 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

is in direct conflict with the spirit of republican 
and democratic institutions. 

We have no voice in the selection of the 
most important officers who administer our 
local affairs, no voice in the enactment of laws 
by congress to which we must yield obedience; 
and no voice in the election of the chief magis- 
trate of the Republic, who appoints the principal 
officers, by whom the executive and judicial af- 
fairs of our territory are administered. 

We are held in a state of political vassal- 
age, similar in many respects to that in which 
the American colonies were held by Great Brit- 
ain. 

Governments are instituted for the purpose 
of securing to all men their natural and inalien- 
able right to life, libery and the pursuit of 
happiness, and all rightful governments derive 
their just powers from the consent of the gov- 
erned. 

Taxation without the right of representation, 
among all people who love freedom, has ever been 
held a valid complaint against the governing 
power. 

While a territory, congress, in which we 
have no voice or other adequate representation, 
can at any time annul any act passed by our 
legislature, and under a present law of congress 
placing limitations and restrictions upon the 
power of the Territorial legislature, no great 
public work or improvement in the interest of the 



CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 377 

people, no matter how necessary it may be to the 
development of our mineral or agricultural re- 
sources, can be inaugurated or carried out. 

Under the congressional alien land act, no 
alien can own or hold lands in the territory, and 
this prohibition shuts the door to the influx and 
the investment of foreign capital in our mines 
containing precious and useful metals, thus re- 
tarding and almost paralyzing the development of 
our unlimited resources, and depriving labor of 
its most encouraging and inviting fields of em- 
ployment. 

Our school lands lie unoccupied, returning 
no revenue for the education of our children, and 
are not open to purchase by those seeking homes 
among us, thus retarding immigration, and that 
great increase in population to which our natural 
resources and unexampled healthfulness of cli- 
mate entitle us. 

A territory cannot have a settled public 
policy. The fact that congress may at any time 
annul its legislation on any matter of pure local 
concern, prevents active co-operation by the peo- 
ple on those higher planes of public life which 
result in the establishment of a permanent state 
policy. 

The abuse of the veto power of alien govern- 
ors who in the past have been, and who in the 
future may again be sent among us, is one of 
which we have had more than one example of 
sad experience by which the people have been 
discouraged. 



378 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

The most intolerable evil, however, under 
which we have lived for the past twenty-five 
years, has been the changing and shifting char- 
acter of our judicial decisions, by which we have 
been deprived of the inestimable benefit of ju- 
dicial precedents as a safeguard to our rights of 
person and property. 

Scarcely has one judge, sent to us from 
abroad, obtained even a slight insight into the 
laws and customs of the territory, before an- 
other coming into his room has undone the work 
of his predecessor, and this chronic condition of 
change has left all of our business and property 
interests in a constant state of doubt and uncer- 
tainty. 

To make confusion worse confounded, we 
have been denied an appeal from these raw and 
inexperienced decisions to an independent su- 
preme court, under the territorial system of hav- 
ing the judge below review his own judgments 
on appeal, while the small judicial force of the 
territory (unable or incompetent to perform the 
duties devolving upon it) causes our calendars to 
be overburdened with causes, and such justice 
as we at last obtain to be delayed until litigants 
are ruined. 

To meet this great want of the people, the 
constitution has provided a Judicial Department, 
ample, but not too great to promptly decide all 
questions of controversy and secure a revision 
of all decisions by an independent supreme court. 

Although the expense of this department is 



CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 379 

large, it is no greater than our necessities com- 
pel, and in the prompt determination of all 
causes, the people will find that their burdens, 
direct and indirect, will be greatly lessened. 

Statehood will Save Annually $55,290 to the Tax- 
payers of Idaho. 

Some objection has been urged against state- 
hood on the ground that the cost of government 
will be greatly increased. 

In framing the constitution the convention 
has kept this objection constantly in mind, and 
it affords us great satisfaction to announce to 
the taxpayers of Idaho that the aggregate cost 
of the state and county governments under the 
proposed constitution will be $55,290 less annu- 
ally than under the present territorial govern- 
ment. 

This result is reached by the following state- 
ment of the cost of the new state government, 
to-wit : 

Annual expense of Executive Department $ 20,220 

Annual expense of Judiciary Department 38,220 

Annual expense of Legislative Department 15,110 

Annual expense of Insane Asylum 20,000 

Annual expense of Penitentiary 23,075 

Annual interest on all outstanding bonds 10,200 

Annual expense of State University 11,000 

All other expenses 300 

Total cost of State Government under the pro- 
posed constitution $138,125 

Total annual cost of present territorial govern- 
ment to the taxpayers of Idaho $ 84,365 

Increase of cost of state government $ 53,760 

By changing the system of county govern- 
ment now in vogue to that proposed by the con- 



380 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

stitution, by which officers are to be paid fees 
instead of salaries, there will be saved annually 
to the counties of the state the following amounts, 
to- wit : 

Salaries of Sheriffs $ 36,000 

Salaries of Auditors and Recorders 15,000 

Salaries of Probate Judges 10,260 

Salaries of County District Attorneys 34,200 

Salaries of County Superintendents of Public 

Instruction 7,020 

Salaries of Clerks of District Courts 6,570 

Total annual saving in county government under 

the constitution $109,050 

Increase in cost of state over territorial govern- 
ment 53,760 

Annual net saving to taxpayers $ 55,290 

In addition to the above in many instances 
the fees of officers will amount annually to a 
sum greater than the maximum compensation 
allowed them. 

This excess will go into the county treasury 
for the benefit of the taxpayers. It is be- 
lieved that in few instances will any minimum 
compensation have to be made up. Thus it will 
be seen that the state and county governments 
under tfie proposed constitution will cost the 
taxpayers $55,290 per annum less than the pres- 
ent territorial and county governments. 

Diminution of School Taxes to Be Obtained 
by Statehood. 

The school land which will belong to the 
new state of Idaho will consist of Sections 16 
and 36 of every Township, and 500,000 acres 
granted under Section 2378 of the Revised Stat- 



CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 381 

utes of the United States, all of which in round 
numbers will amount to over 3,340,000 acres, 
and at $10 per acre are valued at $33,400,000. 

Of these the constitution provides that no 
more than 25 sections, 16,000 acres, shall be sold 
annually. In ten years there would be sold 160,- 
000 acres. Estimated at the minimum price of 
$10 per acre, the total sum realized by the sale 
of this land in ten years will be $1,600,000, This 
sum should certainly yield six (6) per cent net, 
which would give an annual income of $96,000. 
Besides this revenue, the lands thus sold are im- 
mediately subject to taxation, and the revenue 
obtained from these lands in the way of taxes 
will decrease the general annual levies. 

As the school tax constitutes a large part of 
the expense of government, and as the revenue 
derived from school lands will enable the legis- 
lature in a short time to reduce the school levies 
to almost nothing, it is easy to see that your taxes 
will be greatly reduced, in this respect, by a 
state government. 

With statehood there will be available other 
public lands, as follows: 

University grant 46,000 acres 

Penitentiary lands 160 acres 

Agricultural College lands 90,000 acres 

Scientific School lands 100,000 acres 

Normal School lands 100,000 acres 

Charitable institutions 300,000 acres 

Public Buildings 32,000 acres 

The proceeds from the sale of these lands 
will provide all necessary buildings for the re- 
spective purposes mentioned, and eventually fur- 



382 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

nish a sufficient income for their maintenance. 
Until statehood is secured all these public lands 
are unavailable for the purpose of relieving tax- 
ation and furnishing homes for settlers. 
Character of the Constitution. 

The convention that framed the constitution 
was in no sense a partisan one. In its organiza- 
tion both political parties were represented by 
delegates from every county. Strong Republican 
counties sent minorities of Democratic, and demo- 
cratic counties minorities of Republican dele- 
gates. This happy combination of political forces 
was reflected in the spirit which at every stage 
of its deliberations animated the convention. 

Every material, industrial and professional 
interest was represented in its membership, and 
it was wholly free from outside influences. 

The business and taxpaying portion of our 
people was especially prominent and watchful of 
every interest of vital concern. 

We believe that the constitution finally 
adopted is in an eminent degree a conservatively 
progressive one. The powers conferred upon the 
legislature are commensurate with the needs of 
the state, while the restrictions placed upon leg- 
islative action are such as experience in other 
states has shown to be wholesome or necessary. 

A careful perusal of its provisions will, 
we think, satisfy any candid mind that a slate 
government administered in harmony with its 
spirit and intent, will cause an immediate and 
wonderful increase in population, and in the 
wealth and the happiness of the people. 



CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 383 

For a quarter of a century the pioneers of 
Idaho have been patiently laying the foundation 
of the future state. They have at all times up- 
held the power and dignity of the nation. Those 
who emigrated hither in the first flush of early 
manhood, are now gray with age, and surrounded 
by their children and grandchildren. 

They have partly redeemed the wilderness 
which they found, and by their heroic sacrifices 
paved the way for the higher civilization upon 
which they are entering. They remember with 
inexpressible tenderness their old homes in the 
East, and long to be again restored to the full 
rights of citizenship under the constitution of 
the United States. 

To accomplish this end we respectfully in- 
vite you to give the constitution submitted here- 
with a candid consideration, and ratify the same 
by your suffrages. 

Wm. H. Claggett, Shoshone County. 

A. J. Pinkham, Alturas County. 

Chas. M. Hays, Owyhee County. 

Wm. J. McConnell, Latah County. 

Henry Armstrong, Logan County. 

Geo. Ainslie, Boise County. 

Jas. W. Reid, Nez Perce County. 

S. F. Taylor, Bingham County. 

Chas. A. Clark, Ada County. 

Frank P. Cavanah, Elmore County. 
The foregoing address to the people of Idaho 
was given wide circulation throughout the Terri- 






384 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

tory, and the electors were given ample oppor- 
tunity to consider whether it was desirable for 
the territory to become a state, approximately 
three months being allowed to intervene before 
the constitution was submitted to the voters for 
adoption or rejection. 

A constitutional election was held November 
5, 1889, at which election the constitution was 
ratified by an almost unanimous vote. 

The citizens of Idaho were then in a position 
to ask the congress of the United States to ad- 
mit Idaho as one of the Unions of States; a 
bill was accordingly prepared and introduced 
entitled "An Act to Provide for the Admission of 
the State of Idaho into the Union." Hon. George 
L. Shoup who was then governor of the territory, 
ex-Governor Stevenson, James McNab and the 
writer, W. J. McConnell, went to Washington as 
a volunteer delegation to aid our then delegate, 
Hon. Fred T. Dubois, in securing the passage of 
the admission act. 

It was apparent soon after the introduction 
of the bill that the admission of Idaho was re- 
garded with favor by the prominent members of 
both houses regardless of political affiliations, 
and accordingly the bill was passed and received 
the approval of the president July 3, 1890. With 
that stroke of the president's pen closed the 
career of the infant Idaho, and ended her event- 
ful history as a territory, thus closing the last 
chapter of this narrative. 



4 



APPENDIX 



TO 



The Early History of Idaho 

Including a Roster* of the Ter- 
ritorial Delegates and the 
Record Made by Each. 



APPENDIX 



DELEGATES FROM IDAHO TERRITORY. 

DELEGATE CONGRESS YEARS 

William H. Wallace, Lewiston 38th 1863-1865 

E. D. Holbrook, Idaho City 39th 1865-1867 

E. D. Holbrook, Idaho City 40th 1867-1869 

Jacob K. Shafer, Idaho City 41st 1869-1871 

Samuel A. Merritt, Idaho City 42nd 1871-1873 

John Hailey, Boise City 43rd 1873-1875 

Thomas W. Bennett, Boise City 44th 1875-1877 

Stephen S. Fenn, Mount Idaho 44th 1875-1877 

Stephen S. Fenn, Mount Idaho 45th 1877-1879 

George Ainslie, Idaho City 46th 1879-1881 

George Ainslie, Idaho City 47th 1881-1883 

Theodore F. Singiser, Boise City 48th 1883-1885 

John Hailey, Boise City 49th 1885-1887 

Fred T. Dubois, Blacbfoot 50th 1887-1889 



THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 
Dcember 7th, 1863, to July 4th, 1864. 

Wallace, William H., Remarks by, on 

Mr. Wallace, of Idaho. I move that the House 
proceed to the business upon the Speaker's table, to 
take up House Bill No. 15, to provide a temporary gov- 
ernment for the Territory of Montana, and that the 
House further insist upon its disagreement to the amend- 
ments of the Senate, and ask for a further free confer- 
ence on the disagreeing votes between the two houses. 

Mr. Pendleton. I ask to have entered a motion to 
adhere. 

Mr. Wallace. That would kill the bill. 

The previous question was seconded and the main 
question ordered. 

Mr. Pendleton demanded the yeas and nays on the 
motion to insist. 

The yeas and nays were ordered. The question was 
taken and it was decided in the affirmative — yeas 69, 
nays 55. So the motion was agreed to. 

Mr. Wallace moved to reconsider the vote just tak- 
en; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be 
laid on the table. The latter motion was agreed to. 



388 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

HOUSE BILL NO. 405. 

To Provide Internal Revenue to Support the Government, 

to Pay Interest on the Public Debt, and 

for Other Purposes. 

Mr. Wallace. I move to amend this section by- 
striking out the proviso, which is in these words: Pro- 
vided: That all such duties accruing upon gold and sil- 
ver produced as aforesaid shall be due and payable in 
coin or bullion. Mr. Chairman, I think this is the only 
instance in this bill where a distinction is made in the 
character of the payments required to be made by the 
people. The miners are required to pay in coin or in 
gold or silver bullion. I ask the committee whether 
there is any fair and good reason for making such a 
distinction. The government of the United States has 
flooded the Pacific coast with paper money. Every per- 
son engaged in business there, whether he is running a 
rum-mill, a billiard-saloon, or a bowling-alley, can pay 
the tax required of him in the paper currency of the 
country issued by the government itself. But when you 
come to the miner, the most meritorious class of people 
in that section of the country, you require him to pay 
his taxes in gold or silver. When the tax-gatherer 
comes around, and the miner presents to him the paper 
currency issued by the government, it is repudiated. 
Why should congress place the government in that posi- 
tion, repudiating its paper, and requiring the miner to 
pay in coin or gold or silver bullion, while every other 
person can pay his taxes in the currency of the country? 
For that reason, and believing that this is an inequality 
which is odious and offensive, I have offered the amend- 
ment. 

Tellers were ordered on the amendment. So the 
amendment was agreed to. 



INDIAN APPROPRIATION BILL. 

Mr. Wallace. I apprehend if the gentlemen from 
Iowa were familiar with the cost of transportation there 
he would not have moved this amendment. This appro- 
priation is based on an estimate made by the Indian de- 
partment, who are aware of the cost of transportation 
from year to year. If the Missouri river is navigable at 
the time, the cost of transporting these goods may be less 
than $17,000; but if, on the other hand, the river is not 
navigable, it is questionable whether that sum will cover 
the transportation. I will say to my friend from Iowa 
that the Missouri river at that point is navigable in the 
most favorable seasons only two months out of the 
twelve, and frequently goods which have been sent up 
to that point have had to be landed at points three, four, 
and five hundred miles below, and then transported by 
land. 



APPENDIX 389 

For these reasons I hope that the motion made by 
the gentleman from Iowa will not prevail. (The motion 
of Mr. Hubbard of Iowa was to strike out $17,000 and 
insert $10,000.) So the Hubbard amendment was 
agreed to. 

Mr. Wallace. I move to amend by striking out 
"$20,000" and inserting "$25,000." I will state that the 
appropriation made for similar objects in all the other 
territories is $25,000, while in the Territory of Idaho 
now there is a larger area of country and more Indians 
to take care of, and consequently more danger of col- 
lision between them and the whites than in any other 
Territory. I think the appropriation should be at least 
as large as for the other territories. 

The amendment was agreed to. 



THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. 
December 5, 1864, to March 3, 1865. 

Wallace, William H., Remarks by, on Sundry Civil 
Appropriation Bill. 

Mr. Wallace. The amount of $10,000 is not 
enough to meet the wants of Idaho. There is, and has 
been, a great demand for lands upon which to settle, and 
the settlers want these lands surveyed, so that they may 
pay the price to the government and secure their titles. 
Unless this appropriation is made that cannot be done. 
I know the immigration that is flowing into the terri- 
tory of Idaho; I know the wants of these people, and I 
know, sir, that this appropriation is needed. * * * 
* * * * The squatters are not interfered with, 
yet so long as the lands are unsurveyed, and they can- 
not procure patents from the government, the settlers 
are unwilling to go on and make the improvement that 
they otherwise would do. In 'order that the lands may 
be surveyed and these improvements may go on, I ask 
this appropriation may be made. 

The question was taken on Mr. Wallace's amend- 
ment and it was agreed to. 



THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 
December 4, 1865 to July 28, 1866. 

Holbrook, E. D. No remarks in this Session. Branch 
Mint in Idaho. 

Mr. Holbrook, by unanimous consent, submitted the 
following preamble and resolution, which was read, con- 
sidered and agreed to: 

Whereas, The recent discoveries of the vast and ex- 
tensive mineral fields of the interior, which the patient 



390 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

and laborious toil of miners has developed, demonstrates 
that the deposits of precious metals in the Territory of 
Idaho are unsurpassed in richness and extent by those 
of any other country, and which it will take the con- 
tinued labor of ages to exhaust; and whereas the unneces- 
sary delay, expense, and danger attending the transporta- 
tion of said precious metals a great distance for the 
purpose of coinage would be entirely removed by the 
construction of a United States branch mint in the 
immediate vicinity of this great mineral center, would 
tend to a rapid and full development of the mineral re- 
sources, and be of incalculable advantage and benefit to 
the inhabitants of that section of our country as well as 
a source of revenue to the Government, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the Committee on Mines and Mining 
be instructed to inquire into the expediency of changing 
the location of the United States branch mint from The 
Dalles, in the State of Oregon, to Boise City, in the 
Territory of Idaho, and that they report by bill or 
otherwise. 



THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. 
December 3, 1866 to March 3, 1867. 

Holbrook, E. D. No remarks in this Session. 



FORTIETH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 
March 4, 1867, to December 2, 1867. 

Holbrook, E. D., Remarks by, on. Presented one Petition 
and Introduced one Bill. No remarks this session. 



FORTIETH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. 
December 2, 1867 to November 10, 1868. 

Holbrook, E. D., Bills Introduced By. 

No. 261. To establish post routes in the Territory of 
Idaho. 

No. 262. Authorizing a survey of the southern 
boundary line of the Territory of Idaho. 

No. 263. Amendatory of the Organic Act of Idaho 
Territory by extending the jurisdiction of justices of the 
peace. 

No. 264. To locate and establish an assay office in 
the Territory. 

No. 265. To reimburse the people of the Territory 
of Idaho for losses sustained by Indian depredations and 
for moneys expended in protecting their property against 
hostile Indians. 

No. 266. To reimburse the citizens of Wasco, Uma- 
tilla, Union, Grant and Baker counties for losses sus- 
tained by Indian depredations. 



APPENDIX 391 

No. 299. Extending the preemption and homestead 
laws of the United States in the Territory of Idaho. 

No. 408. Granting aid in the construction of a rail- 
road and telegraph line from the Union Pacific railroad 
to Idaho; Portland (Oregon), Montana and Puget Sound. 

No. 652. To increase the compensation of registers 
and receivers in the Territory of Idaho. 

Holbrook, E. D., Resolutions Submitted by. 

In relation to the payment of salaries to territorial 
officers absent from their duties. 

Holbrook, E. D., Remarks by, on Sundry Civil Appropri- 
ation Bill, 

The Clerk read the following: For surveying the 
public lands in Idaho, at rates not exceeding fifteen dol- 
lars per mile for standard line, twelve dollars for town- 
ship, and ten dollars for section lines, $15,000. 

Mr. Holbrook. I move to amend the paragraph 
just read by striking out "fifteen" and inserting "twen- 
ty-five." I desire to state in connection withthis amend- 
ment that the land officers of Idaho Territory recom- 
mended the appropriation of $35,000 as being absolutely 
necessary for carrying on the surveys of public lands 
in that Territory. The Commissioner of Public Lands 
recommended to the Secretary of the Interior an appro- 
priation of $25,000, which is small enough. This is the 
amount proposed in my amendment, which I hope will be 
adopted. 

(The committee divided and the tellers reported — 
ayes 43, nays 55. So the amendment was not agreed to). 

I desire to ask the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Washburne) a question in this connection. I desire 
to know why it is that he appeals to members of this 
House and asks them to vote an appropriation of $15,- 
000 for the survey of lands in Washington Territory, 
and why he asks an appropriation of $25,000 for Colo- 
rado, and refuses a like appropriation for Montana, 
when there is the same amount of population today set- 
tled in the Territory of Montana, where there never has 
been a survey made, where there is absolutely more 
need of it than in either of the places I have mentioned, 
where mineral lodes are being taken up, and where sur- 
veys have to be made before a person can acquire title 
to any mineral lands that he may locate. As has been 
mentioned by the gentleman from Montana (Mr. Cav- 
anaugh) there are hundreds of valleys in that Territory 
where there are settlers who desire to make improve- 
ments. ^ They do not know whether those improvements 
are going to become theirs permanently, or whether, when 
the surveys are completed, a portion of the lands they 
have taken up, and upon which they have constructed 
their houses and planted their orchards, will not be di- 
vided by township lines, and that their improvements 



3 92 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

are not going into the hands of some one who has done 
nothing to improve the valleys of that vast section of 
country. I trust that the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Montana will be adopted, and I appeal 
to the members of the House not to make this discrim- 
ination against that Territory. 

The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Washburne) has 
not yet answered my question, and I again ask him to 
do so. I want him to tell this House why this discrim- 
ination is made against Montana Territory. They have 
reported in favor of $15,000 for Washington Territory; 
$25,000 for Oregon; $15,000 for Idaho Territory; 
$25,000 for Colorado Territory, etc., while only $5,000 is 
appropriated for Montana Territory. 

Mr. Washburne. We found there was no land to 
be surveyed there, and therefore there was no necessity 
for any appropriation for that purpose. 
On the Resolution to Print the Report of J. Ross Browne. 
Mr. Holbrook. I would ask the gentleman (Mr. 
Ashley of Nevada) if he does not know that four-fifths 
of the report is taken up with the description of mines 
in his own state, and more particularly of one mine — the 
Comstock ledge. 

Mr. Speaker, I have only a word to say in regard 
to this proposition. The gentleman from Nevada (Mr. 
Ashley) in his remarks on this subject, seems to sup- 
pose that I am opposed to the printing of this report. 
Such is not the case. I believe the country will derive 
a vast amount of information from the report. It will 
call the attention of the eastern section of the country 
to our mines in the distant west. It will doubtless be 
the means to some extent of inducing capitalists to make 
investments in that country, which we at the present time 
very much need. But, sir, I cannot allow that report 
to go unchallenged and uncontradicted, so far as its 
statements concern the territory of Idaho. I do not 
mean to censure Mr. Browne for the report which he has 
made. Considering the comparatively small amount of 
the appropriation made by congress for the purpose of 
carrying out this examination, it was impossible for Mr. 
Browne to go there and devote to the work the time 
necessary to enable him to make an accurate and truth- 
ful report. No man starting from New York and 
crossing this continent, passing over hundreds of thous- 
ands of square miles of mineral territory, and spending 
there a period of only about sixty days, could under- 
take to make a full and accurate report in regard to 
the mineral resources of that country. 

A great portion of that report, however, I can 
heartily endorse, believing it to .contain information val- 
uable to the country; and I rose only for the purpose of 
correcting the impression which might have been created 
by the remarks of the gentleman from Nevada, that I 
oppose the printing of the report. My object was not to 
advertise the mines of Idaho. 

April 15, 1868, indefinite leave of absence was 
granted to Mr. Stewart, Mr. Holbrook and Mr. Laflin. 



APPENDIX 393 

FORTIETH CONGRESS, THIRD SESSION. 
December 7, 1868, to March 4, 1869. 

Holbrooh, E. D., Remarks by, on Indian Appropriation 
Bill. 

Mr. Holbrook. I would like to make an inquiry of 
the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Butler). In 
proposing to strike out "eleven" and to insert "twelve," 
as the number of superintendents he states it is for the 
purpose of providing a superintendent for the Crow 
Indians. I wish to call his attention to the fact that 
in the Indian appropriation bill of last year the super- 
intendences of the Territories of Montana and Idaho 
were united. I think the gentleman is now convinced 
that a superintendency embracing those two Territories 
is too large; that it is impossible for one superintendent 
to attend to all the business for those two Territories. 
I therefore ask the gentleman to amend his amendment 
so as to increase the number of superintendents to thir- 
teen. I have a letter here in my possession from 
the first person who was appointed to the superinten- 
dency of these territories after they were united. He has 
had much experience with various tribes of Indians in 
the west, and he states that it is an utter impossibility 
for one superintendent to attend to all the business per- 
taining to those two Territories. * * * I be- 
lieve that I have consulted with every member but one 
of the Committee on Appropriations, and they have 
agreed that the Territories of Montana and Idaho should 
be separated, and each have a superintendent. 

Mr. Butler. When we reach the proper place in 
this bill it is my intention to move an amendment which 
will give a superintendent to each of those Territories. 

Mr. Holbrook. Now, Mr. Chairman, there are 
some facts connected with the Indian affairs in the 
Territory of Idaho, with which I presume the gentlemen 
of this House are familiar. There are more Indians 
in the Territory of Idaho than in any other separate 
territory in the United States. I presume gentlemen 
are not unaware of the fact that citizens of the Terri- 
tory of Idaho within the last two years have lost more 
property because of the Indian war arid Indian dis- 
turbances than the people of all the rest of the terri- 
tories combined. Why, sir, we have lost more than two 
millions of property in a single county of that territory 
through the hostile acts of the Indians. The Committee 
on Appropriations have reduced the appropriations for 
Idaho to the same amount which is allowed to the Terri- 
tory of Utah, where they have not had an Indian wat- 
for many years past. I therefore move that the appro- 
priation for Idaho Territory be increased to $30,000 and 
I trust that there will be no objection to the amendment. 

The amendment was disagreed to. 

Mr. Holbrook. I am not replying to the Committee 
on Appropriations, because they stated the other day 
that they had made a pro rata reduction in the appro- 



394 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

priation for the Territory of Idaho without taking into 
consideration the outside surrounding circumstances con- 
nected with the case. And after the gentleman having 
charge of this bill saw fit to silence delegates here by 
raising points of order, and making assertions which he 
knew at the time he made them to be unqualifiedly 
false 

The Speaker. The Chair must arrest the remarks 
of the gentleman from Idaho. He certainly is not now 
in order. 

Mr. Holbrook. I am aware that what I have said 
is not parliamentary. 

Mr. Benjamin. I ask that the words used by the 
Delegate from Idaho (Mr. Holbrook) be taken down in 
writing, read from the Clerk's desk, and ruled upon by 
the speaker. 

The words having been reduced to writing, were 
read by the Clerk as follows: 

And after the gentleman having charge of this bill 
saw fit to silence delegates here by raising points of 
order, and making assertions which he knew at the time 
he made them to be unqualifiedly false 

The Speaker. The Chair rules that these words 
are out of order, both as being unparliamentary and as 
being indecorous. Where a member states that what 
another member has said is not true that is not unpar- 
liamentary, because it is possible that the member may 
have been mistaken. But when a gentleman states that 
a member on this floor has declared that which he knew 
to be unqualifiedly false, that is the most insulting lan- 
guage that can be uttered in a parliamentary body. 

Mr. Holbrook. I would like to ask a question of 
the Chair. 

Mr. Benjamin. I object, until the words which the 
Chair has declared to be unparliamentary have been re- 
tracted. 

Mr. Holbrook. I do not propose to retract any 
words I have used. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from Idaho (Mr. 
Holbrook) is not in order. The gentleman from Massa- 
chusetts (Mr. Butler) is entitled to fourteen minutes 
remaining of his hour. 

Mr. Schenck. I offer the following resolution, and 
on it demand the previous question: Resolved, That 
E. D. Holbrook, Delegate from the Territory of Idaho, 
having distinctly uttered in the presence of the House 
the following words in debate: "and after the * * * 
(see statement of Mr. Holbrook, 10 and 11). The reso- 
lution was adopted. 

The Speaker. The sergeant-at-arms will execute 
the order of the House. 

Mr. Holbrook appeared at the bar of the House, ac- 
companied by the sergeant-at-arms. 

The Speaker. Mr. Holbrook, oftentimes in a delib- 
erative body, in the discussion of exciting questions, 
language is used which, when attention is called to it, 
is promptly withdrawn. We are all fallible, and hence 



APPENDIX 395 

are liable to yield sometimes to the temptation to in- 
dulge in language not seemly or proper ; but when the re- 
mark employed is offensive in its character, and appar- 
ently, from the construction of the sentence, intended to 
be insulting, and when, an opportunity being given for 
its withdrawal, that opportunity is not taken advantage 
of, thus reiterating the insult, to a fellow-member uttered 
upon the floor of the House, it has always been deemed 
by deliberative assemblies censurable by the body with 
which both members are connected. This instance is, in 
the opinion of the House, of that character, and the 
House has instructed its speaker to censure you at the 
bar. I therefore by the order of the House, pronounce 
upon you its censure for the language which you have 
uttered in its hearing. You will resume your seat. 

Following this censure Mr. Holbrook submitted a few 
remarks on the Army appropriation bill, not important; 
likewise on the Deficiency and Sundry Civil appropriation 
bills. 



FORTY-FIRST CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 
March 4, 1869, to April 10, 1869. 

Shafer, J. K. No Remarks during this Session. 



FORTY-FIRST CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. 
December 6, 1869 to July 15, 1870. 

Shafer, J. K. 

Mr. Shafer introduced fifteen bills and resolutions, 
none of importance. 

Remarks by, on Deficiency Appropriation Bill. 

Mr. Shafer. * Mr. Chairman, I have no objection to 
the clause as it stands except that it appropriates these 
amounts to certain individuals, specifically naming them. 
Now, the fact is that many of those claims since they 
have become due have been assigned to one party or 
another. And all I desire is that where the claims have 
been assigned to other parties the parties to whom they 
have been assigned shall have the benefit of this act. 
If the paragraph passes in its present form it will be 
ineffectual and nugatory, as far as one-half, or one- 
third of these claims are concerned. And therefore I 
desire the insertion at each of the places I have indicated 
of the words "or their assigns." (The amendment was 
not agreed to). 



FORTY-FIRST CONGRESS, THIRD SESSION. 
December 5, 1870 to March 4, 1871. 

Shafer, Jacob K., Remarks by, on the Bill Relating to a 
Government for Wyoming and Utah Territories. 

Mr. Shafer. I wish to be understood that this law 
has been applicable for several years to the Territory of 



396 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

Idaho, and that the people of that Territory regard it as 
bad in principle and worse in practice. In some of the 
more remote counties from the capital of the Territory 
but a single term of the court has been held in each 
year. Every lawyer knows that there ought to be two 
terms of the court in every county in each year. If this 
thing is allowed to go on in the other Territories as it 
is now in Idaho the courts will not be held as they 
ought to be. They have not been held regularly in that 
Territory, and I have no reason to believe they will be 
held more regularly in the other Territories. 

Sundry Civil Appropriation Bill. 

Mr. Shafer. I move in line four hundred and thir- 
teen, to strike out "$20,000" and insert "$30,000." The 
appropriations for surveys heretofore made for this Ter- 
ritory of Idaho have been extremely limited, and the in- 
conveniences which have resulted have been such that I 
have to ask the House to make this appropriation larger. 
In southern Idaho there is one settlement of about fifteen 
hundred persons who have been living there for four, 
five, or six years, and not one single acre of land has 
ever been surveyed. I have abundant assurance that 
next spring there will be a large immigration to the 
Bear river and Bear lake country. In northern Idaho 
also our surveys have been extremely limited, and it is 
very desirable, as that portion of the country has been 
settled up for five or six years, that those surveys should 
be made, so that the men who have settled there may 
acquire title to their lands. 

There is another reason also for my amendment. 
There is a large body of mining lands in the Territory 
of Idaho, none of which have ever been surveyed, and it 
is desirable that they also be surveyed. I have there- 
fore to ask the House to increase this appropriation 
from $20,000 to $30,000. I believe that in offering this 
amendment I have the concurrence of the chairman of 
the committee on Appropriations, and I trust there will 
be no objection to it. (The amendment was agreed to). 



FORTY-SECOND CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 
March 4, 1871, to April 20, 1871. 

Merritt, Samuel A., Remarks by, on Deficiency Appro- 
priation Bill. 

Mr. Merritt. I move to amend by adding to the 
thirty-seventh amendment of the Senate the following: 

That the appropriation for the survey of the boun- 
dary line between Idaho and Utah Territories, contained 
in the act making appropriations for sundry civil ex- 
penses of the Government for the year ending June 30, 
1872, and for other purposes, approved March 3, 1871, 
is hereby made subject to present use. 



APPENDIX 397 

The object of this amendment is to allow the Secre- 
tary of the Interior to expend immediately the amount 
appropriated by the Forty-first Congress for the estab- 
lishment of the boundary line between Idaho and Utah. 
A portion of the boundary line is yet undefined, and 
consequently there are one thousand or fifteen hundred peo- 
ple who claim to belong to either Territory, according 
to circumstances. When the tax collector of Utah comes 
around they claim to be citizens of Idaho; when the 
tax collector of Idaho comes around they claim to be 
citizens of Utah. The best season to make the survey 
is during the months of May, June and July. After the 
water of the rivers has risen it will be impossible per- 
haps to make the survey, because a great portion of the 
line will be overflowed. The amount to be expended is 
only $6,400, and I imagine it cannot make much dif- 
ference whether it is expended in the months of May, 
June and July, or in the months of July, August and 
September. I have consulted in regard to this amend- 
ment with the Delegate from Utah (Mr. Hooper) who 
has no objection to it. (So the amendment was agreed to. 



FORTY-SECOND CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. 
December 4, 1871 to June 10, 1872. 

Merritt, Samuel A., Remarks by, on Territorial Peniten- 
tiaries. 

Mr. Merritt. I ask unanimous consent to offer for 
immediate consideration the following resolution: 

Resolved: That the Attorney-General is directed to 
furnish to this House, at the earliest practicable time, a 
statement showing the cost of equipping and maintaining 
the penitentiaries in the Territories of Colorado, Mon- 
tana and Idaho, from the time the marshals of said Ter- 
ritories took charge of said penitentiaries up to this 
date; also the number of persons confined therein con- 
victed of offenses against the laws of the United States 
and of said Territories ; also what contracts have been 
made with said Territories for keeping territorial con- 
victs, and the sum of money paid by said several Terri- 
tories for keeping territorial prisoners. (There being 
no objection, the resolution was adopted). 



FORTY-SECOND CONGRESS, THIRD SESSION. 
December 2, 1872, to March 3, 1873. 

Merritt, Samuel A., Remarks by, on the Bill Relating to 
Territorial Penitentiaries. 

Mr. Merritt. The territorial prisons are now in 
charge of the United States government, which pays for 
maintaining them, and the Territories pay so much for 
the maintenance of territorial prisoners, not less than 
one dollar, and sometimes as high as two dollars per 



398 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

day. I have here a statement furnished. by the Depart- 
ment of Justice, as follows: ***** From 
that statement it will appear that the Colorado peniten- 
tiary cost for sixteen months the sum of $24,796.99. The 
amount received from the territory was $13,631.57. There 
was one Federal prisoner there for four months at a 
cost of $2,771.35 per month, or rather more than it 
would cost to maintain several members of Congress dur- 
ing that time. In Montana the cost of maintaining the 
penitentiary for sixteen months was $23,143.73; the 
amount received from the territory was $8,271. There 
was one federal prisoner maintained there for sixteen 
months at a cost of $929.54 per month. The cost of 
maintaining the Idaho State Penitentiary for 16 months 
was $8,398.32; the amount received from the territory 
was $1,729. The cost of maintaining three federal 
prisoners for thirteen months was $513.02 each per 
month. 

Mr. Holman. From the statement of the gentleman 
this would appear to be a favorable arrangement. 

Mr. Merritt. It will be advantageous to the Gov- 
ernment, and advantageous to the Territories. There are 
very few Federal prisoners in the Territories, very few 
infractions of the Federal law. By the arrangement pro- 
posed in this bill the government will have to pay but 
a small sum in comparison with the present cost. I think 
this is a good arrangement for both the government and 
the Territories. 
On the Bill regulating the Compensation of Members of 

Territorial Legislatures. 

Mr. Merritt. I wish to correct the gentleman from 
Indiana (Mr. Holman). These bills were prepared to 
be reported by the committee on the Territories during 
the last session. This bill was ready to be reported at the 
last session. There was no disposition on the part of the 
committee — certainly none on the part of the gentleman 
who introduced the bill — to keep it back. 

I will say further though in some of the Territories 
members of the legislature get six dollars per day, in 
others they get but four dollars, and in others three 
dollars — an amount totally inadequate to pay the ordin- 
ary expenses of such officers. We do not want, I hope, 
to starve members of Territorial Legislatures. They 
have no political influence, and there is just where the 
rub is. These salaries were fixed on the basis of thirty 
years ago, when we first organized the Territories. 
Everyone knows that the price of living is much higher 
now. The cost of living is greater, all the necessaries 
of life are much higher; and I say the governor of any 
one of the Territories cannot live as a gentleman at any 
such salaries in the Territories of Utah, Montana, Idaho, 
and some of the other Territories, as that which they now 
receive. A governor cannot live on a salary of $2,500 
even if he is so fortunate as to have only one wife. 
How much less can it be done if he should happen to have 
more than one wife? 



APPENDIX 399 

Now, while I may be in favor of just economy, we 
ought not to be so niggardly as to starve these men 
who are serving the government in these positions. (The 
pending amendment was agreed to). 



FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 
December 1, 1873 to June 23, 1874. 

Hailey, John. 

No remarks during this session. Introduced ten bills. 



FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. 
December 7, 1874, to March 3, 1875. 

Hailey, John. 

No remarks in this session. No bills introduced. 
Presented one petition. 



FORTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 
December 6, 1875, to August 15, 1876. 

Bennett, Thomas W., Resolution offered by 

That the committee on Judiciary inquire into the 
expediency of granting to citizens of the Territories the 
privilege of voting for President and Vice-President. Re- 
ferred. 

Remarks by, on Legislative, Executive and Judicial Ap- 
propriation Bill. 

Mr. Bennett. Mr. Chairman, I have with some 
care examined the bill reported to the House by the com- 
mittee on Appropriations and now under consideration. 
And I am well convinced that many of its provisions, in 
relation to the governments in the Territories, should 
they become law, will work great hardship to the people 
of the Territories, seriously embarrass the administra- 
tion of their governments, and greatly retard the growth 
of their people and the development of their resources. 

I have several amendments prepared, which I pro- 
pose to offer to the bill, as the proper sections are read 
by the Clerk, and at this time I desire only to submit 
some general remarks upon the bill as it applies to the 
Territories, in the hope that the House may reverse what 
I deem the hasty and unwise conclusions of the com- 
mittee. Sweeping reductions have been reported in the 
appropriations for the Territories. These reductions 
were doubtless honestly made by the committee in the 
supposed interest of economy and retrenchment, and in 
so far as they subserve those purposes, I cheerfully 
acquiesce. 



400 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

Mr. Chairman, neither myself nor the people whom 
I have the honor to represent are unaware of the univer- 
sal demand of the American people for retrenchment, in 
the public expenditures of the Government, nor of the 
pressing necessity therefor. Everywhere, all over the 
country, in public and private life, in official and social 
circles, in politics and religion, are to be seen the ugly 
evidences and baneful influences of extravagances and 
its consequent demoralizations and corruptions. And he 
who attempts to fasten this stain upon the garments of 
any one class, or of any one party, simply insults the 
common intelligence, controverts the common history, 
and does violence to the common experience of the coun- 
try. The evil has pervaded all elements of society and 
infected all political parties. We need not be at a loss 
to discover the prime cause of all this disorder and loss 
of public and private virtue, for it is but the natural 
result of a great civil war, and the demoralization which 
it created. Neither is it profitable to discuss the re- 
sponsibilities of that war, for its causes, its operations, 
and its results have passed into history, and the brave 
men who met each other in the deadly strife where 

Once was felt the storm of war 
When it had an earthquake's roar, 
And flashed upon the mountain height 
And smoked along the shore 

now sit happily together under the "banner of beauty 
and glory," with each other vieing in the prayer: 

Peace, thy olive wand extend, 
And bid wild war his ravage end. 

But the bill now under discussion aspires to apply 
the corrective in the direction of retrenchment. And to 
this the whole country gives its profound and grateful 
sanction. Too long have the people waited, watched, and 
prayed for this reform, while they have been answered 
with "a maximum of words and a minimum of deeds." 

But, Mr. Chairman, I submit that the cheapest is 
not always the best, and every reduction of expense is 
not always economy. It is neither economy nor good 
husbandry to indiscriminately cut and prune the barren 
and the fruitful alike. Neither is it a good system of 
pruning which adopts an inflexible rule to cut all vines 
alike by a fixed percentage of measurement. 

Mr. Chairman, I think I can show that the com- 
mittee in their zeal for retrenchment have not used a 
proper discrimination, and that the per cent rule which 
they adopted worked great injustice and utterly fails to 
accomplish reform, but inflicts only evil where good was 
intended. 

I will take the Territory of Idaho as an average 
example. This Territory was organized by an act of 
Congress, and is in every sense the creature of the Gov- 



APPENDIX 401 

eminent. In area, the Territory is three times as large 
as the State of Indiana. In beautiful scenery of snow- 
capped mountains and lovely valleys, of grand cascades 
and calm lakes, it far surpasses the famed land of the 
Swiss, for I have seen them both. In beauty and salu- 
brity of climate it is the peer of Italy, for I have en- 
joyed them both. Its great mountains are permeated 
everywhere with quartz ledges and lodes of gold and 
silver, while amid the sands of its streams and its bars 
the freed golden dust glitters in the sun, forming a fabu- 
lous array of marvelous deposits which will require the 
industry of ages to develop and exhaust, while pasturage, 
timber, fish and game are in inexhaustible supply. Talk 
of your Hawaiian Island, and your treaties of recipro- 
city with them, here in Idaho we offer a reciprocity 
backed by resources contrasting with those of the Ha- 
wiian Islands as this great Republic of ours contrasts 
with the land and hereditaments of his majesty King 
Kalakua. The people who live out there are your sons 
and your brothers ***** *** 

But you ask how can these things be avoided? I 
answer that the Constitution should be so amended as to 
do away entirely with the cumbrous and unfair mach- 
inery of an electoral college, and each qualified voter 
of the Republic should be allowed to vote directly for 
president, whether he is a citizen of the United States 
residing in a state, or a citizen of the United States 
residing in a territory. 

Again, the people of the territories should be allowed 
to elect their own officers, as do the people of the states. 
In this way the people there would get their choice of 
rulers and a great source of political patronage removed. 
A bill is now pending before the .committee on Territor- 
ies for this purpose, and I understand will be reported 
adversely to the House, for what reason I am unable to 
perceive, unless it comes from that inordinate desire of 
all sons of Adam to have somebody to rule over. Since 
the war has enfranchised the negro and given him the 
right of choosing his own rulers and of representation 
in Congress, there is nobody left disfranchised but your 
brothers in the territories. 

Then, again, the people of the territories have no 
representation in either house of congress. It is true 
they are allowed the privilege of sending a delegate to 
this House, who, if he conducts himself modestly and 
does not meddle too much in public business is allowed 
a chair to sit down in when he is tired, and listen to the 
wit and the wisdom of the men who represent his old 
home in the states who has never obeyed the injunc- 
tion "Go west and grow up with the country," and be 
disfranchised. It is true he is allowed to debate, but 
after he has had his say, after he has exercised his 
great constitutional right of "jaw-bone" and sits down 
feeling that he has made the subject luminous with his 
eloquence and his logic, the roll is called, and the repre- 
sentatives of the people in the states, including the col- 
ored brethren, vote, it may be, unanimously against his 

26 E. H. I. 



402 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

proposition, and he is not even allowed to vote for it, 
that he may go back to his constituents and parade his 
record in self-defense. And worse than that, the dele- 
gates are excluded from the committees of the House; 
even those committees whose business directly concerns 
the people of the territories, as for instance those of 
Mines and Mining, Indian Affairs, Military Affairs, Pub- 
lic Lands, Private Land Claims, Pacific Railroads, Com- 
merce, and Post-offices and Post-roads. On all of these 
committees a delegate from his experience could be of 
invaluable service to the committee, to his constituents, 
and to the country, and having no vote, could not 
possibly do harm if he desired. ***** 

Mr. Chairman, I shall not urge appropriations at 
this session outside our regular sums for the territorial 
government. I shall yield to the great demands of 
the people for retrenchment. We in Idaho are poor and 
needy. We have no capitol buildings, no United States 
court-house, our navigable rivers are obstructed, and we 
have no railroad or telegraph built by government sub- 
sidy, yet all I shall ask is to be let alone, and not 
robbed of our necessary and just appropriations because 
others have been extravagant. And to this end I beg, 
in the name of common justice, common honesty, common 
sense, common decency, and common brotherhood, that 
you let us keep what little we have, and, if you want 
to retrench, do it where it can be safely done, but be 
sure you do not mistake injustice for economy and 
cripple where you ought to sustain. The best economy 
is that which fosters industry, develops the resources of 
a country, and does justice to all. 

If you will not let us vote for our rulers, if you will 
not give representation along with our taxation; if you 
will not let us be on your committees; if you will not 
allow us to pay our own officers increased compensation; 
if you will squander money on worthless Indians; if you 
will refuse us public lands within our own borders to 
build us a railroad; and if you will disfranchise us, in 
the name of American honor I insist that you shall not 
kill us in the name of economy. 

On Bill to transfer the Office of Indian Affairs from the 
Interior Department to the War Department. 

Mr. Bennett. There is another thing which ought 
to be stated, and that is the Indians do not always get 
the beef which is charged to them. I had occasion, upon 
a visit to the Indians in Idaho, to take the testimony in 
writing of an Indian chief. Although I saw from the 
accounts of the Indian agent that he had been furnished 
with beef to the amount stated out of the annual appro- 
priation of $20,000 to that tribe for five or six years, 
yet the chief told me that he had never seen any of the 
beef of all that has been charged to these Indians. He 
positively testified that he had never seen any beef, not- 
withstanding the large account which had been charged 
to him by the agent. The truth is, in many cases the 



APPENDIX 403 

Indians are fed on shadowy beef, while the soldier sees 
he gets tangible beef, and beef of the best quality, and 
from the block. 



FORTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 
Report No. 624. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

Contested Election Case of Fenn vs. Bennett. 
June 5, 1876. — Ordered to be Printed. 

Mr. House, from the Committee on Elections, sub- 
mitted the following report: 

The Committee on Elections, to whom was referred 
the case of S. S. Fenn, claimant to a seat in the House 
of Representatives of the Forty-fourth Congress as a 
Delegate from the Territory of Idaho, make the follow- 
ing report: 

The returns from the various voting precincts, as 
made to the clerks of the boards of county commissioners, 
the parties to whom the precinct returns were to be 
made, show that S. S. Fenn, the claimant, received a 
plurality of one hundred and five votes over T. W. Ben- 
nett, the sitting member. The returns made to the 
state board of canvassers show the same plurality for the 
claimant. The territorial canvassers were the Secretary 
of the Territory and the United States Marshal of the 
Territory, who were required to canvass the returns in 
the presence of the Governor of the Territory. The 
territorial canvassers refused to canvass the following 
votes returned, viz., two hundred and forty-six votes 
given for Hon. S. S. Fenn in Oneida county; four hun- 
dren and twenty-three for S. S. Fenn, and eighty-seven 
for T. W. Bennett, in Nez Perce county; also one hun- 
dred and thirty-four votes given for T. W. Bennett, and 
one hundred and two votes for S. S. Fenn, in Lemhi 
county; also one hundred and sixty- three for S. S. Fenn, 
and twenty-three for T. W. Bennett, in Idaho county. 
The reason alleged by the territorial board of canvassers 
for rejecting two hundred and forty-six votes for S. S. 
Fenn in the county of Oneida is that there was the pre- 
fix "Hon." to said votes. The sitting member, at the 
hearing, waived the objection to the counting of those 
votes from Oneida county, and they are accordingly 
counted for the claimant. The returns from the county 
of Nez Perce were rejected by the territorial canvassers 
for the reason that the votes of the county were can- 
vassed under the law of 1864, which gave the canvassing 
of the votes to the clerk of the county commissioners, 
and two county officers to be selected by the clerk, and 
not under the act of 1869, which gives the county com- 
missioners jurisdiction to canvass the votes of the sev- 
eral precincts of the county. Although the question as 
to the proper board to canvass the precinct returns is a 
very important one for the territorial canvassers to 
consider, your committee do not regard it of much im- 
portance in coming to a decision in this case, as the 



404 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

question for the House to consider is, who, in fact, re- 
ceived the highest number of votes, and the precinct re- 
turns are proved, which very clearly show that the ac- 
tual vote cast in this county was four hundred and 
twenty-three for S. S. Fenn and thirty-seven for T. W. 
Bennett; and although the territorial canvassers acted 
rightly in rejecting the returns from this county, as they 
were not canvassed by the county commissioners, your 
committee, from the precinct returns, find that four 
hundred and twenty-three were, in fact, given for S. S. 
Fenn, and should now be counted for him; and eighty- 
seven votes were, in fact, given for T. W. Bennett, and 
should be counted for him. The vote of Idaho county 
was rejected on the ground that the returns for the 
Delegate to Congress were not on a separate sheet of 
paper. The law of the Territory, act of December 22, 
1864, provided that the clerk of the county commission- 
ers shall make an abstract of the votes for Delegate to 
Congress on the sheet, the abstract of votes for mem- 
bers of the legislative assembly on one sheet, and the 
abstract of votes for district officers on the sheet, and 
the abstract of votes for county and precinct officers on 
another sheet. The returns from this county had all of 
the votes for the several officers voted for on the same 
sheet; but your committee regard the law in this matter 
as merely directory, and do not find that the vote is 
thereby vitiated, but count the votes from this county 
for the parties for whom they were cast. In Lemhi 
County both the contestant and contestee agree that the 
votes from this county should be counted, viz : one hun- 
dred and thirty-four for T. W. Bennett, and one hun- 
dred and two for S. S. Fenn, as it is .clear the votes were 
intended and actually cast for them. The votes thus 
counted give the claimant a plurality of one hundred 
and five votes, and your committee, therefore, recom- 
mend the passage of the following resolutions: 

1. Resolved, 'That T. W. Bennett was not elected, 
and is not entitled to a seat in the House of Represen- 
tatives for the Fourty-fourth Congress as a Delegate 
from the Territory of Idaho. 

2. Resolved, That S. S. Fenn, was elected, and is 
entitled to a seat in the House of Representatives of the 
Fourty-fourth Congress as a Delegate from the Terri- 
tory of Idaho. 

Monday, June 5, 1876. 

Mr. House. I rise for the purpose of submitting a 
report from the Committee of Elections in the case of 
Fenn vs. Bennett. 

I move that the report be laid upon the table, and 
ordered to be printed, merely asking now that the reso 
lutions accompanying the report be read. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That T. W. Bennett was not elected, and 
is not entitled, to a seat in the House of Representatives 



APPENDIX 405 

of the Fourty-fourth Congress as a Delegate from the 
Territory of Idaho. 

Resolved, That S. S. Fenn was elected, and is en- 
titled, to a seat in the House of Representatives of the 
Fourty-fourth Congress as a Delegate from the Terri- 
tory of Idaho. 

The motion was agreed to; and the report was laid 
on the table, and ordered to be printed. 

Friday, June 23, 1876. 

The above resolutions were agreed to. 

Mr. S. S. Fenn appeared at the bar of the House, 
and was duly qualified by taking the oath prescribed by 
law. 



FORTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 

July 26, 1876. 

Fenn, S. S., Remarks by 

Mr. Fenn. Mr. Speaker, I observe in the Record 
what has been referred to by the gentleman from New 
York, (Mr. Townsend.) on yesterday I was absent at 
the time the argument took place on this floor in the 
Virginia contested-election case. I will state now that I 
received the unanimous democratic nomination by the 
democratic convention of the Territory for Delegate, and 
afterward I canvassed a large portion of the Territory 
— as much as I could in the intervening time before the 
election. Mr. T. W. Bennett, who has been appointed 
governor of the Territory by President Grant, and who 
had served in that office between two and three years, 
who is looked upon as an able and rather unscrupulous 
republican politician, after the meeting of the republican 
territorial convention announced himself as an indepen- 
dent candidate for Delegate to Congress, and within 
forty-eight hours thereafter the republican convention 
indorsed him and placed him before the people as their 
candidate. 

The county of Oneida in our Territory has quite a 
large Mormon population, but I was never in that county 
until several months after the election. I will state fur- 
ther, that I sent no man to that county, to work in my 
interest; that Governor Bennett did send men to work 
in his interest, and tried to secure the Mormon vote in 
that county. I am proud to say that I received four- 
fifths of the legal vote case in that county at that 
election, and I will say that Mr. Hailey, my democratic 
predecessor as Delegate upon this floor from Idaho, re- 
ceived five-sixths of the entire vote in Oneida county at 
the preceding election. 

During the remainder of this session Mr. Fenn in- 
troduced five bills. 



406 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

FORTY-FOURTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. 
December 4, 1876 to March 3, 1877. 

Fenn, Stephen S. Remarks by, on Indian Appropriation 
Bill. 

Mr. Fenn. Now, Mr. Chairman, in regard to the 
amendment I wish to say I do not know that I have any 
special objection to make to it. I reside in the Territory 
of Idaho, and from information which comes to me it 
appears these Indians are advancing in the arts of 
civilization; that they are quiet and peaceful, and that 
the white people are perfectly satisfied with them. 

But I wish to add, so far as the appropriation for 
the Fort Hall reservation is concerned, $20,000 would 
not be a sufficient sum if the law were faithfully carried 
out. There is no advance in civilization on the part of 
the Snake, Bannock and Sheepeater bands of Indians, 
who ought to go upon the reservation, are wandering 
vagabonds, while the bands of the same tribes at Fort 
Lemhi reservations are peaceful and quiet, advancing in 
civilization and, as I have said, the white people are per- 
fectly satisfied with them. The Indians who ought to 
be removed and kept upon the Fort Hall reservation are 
wandering all over the country, notwithstanding from 
year to year this appropriation is made for the purpose 
of removing them to that reservation. If this appro- 
priation of $20,000 is made for this purpose it will only 
be squandered as heretofore, and not all expended for 
the removal of these Indians. Therefore, I am willing 
that $5,000 in accordance with the suggestion of the 
gentleman from Montana, shall be transferred where it 
will do some good, and be a benefit to the Bannocks, 
Snakes, Sheepeaters. 



FORTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 
October 15, 1877 to December 3, 1877. 

Fenn, Stephen S. No remarks in this session. 



FORTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. 
December 3, 1877 to June 20, 1878. 

Fenn, Stephen S., Remarks by, on the Bill to Transfer 
the Indian Bureau from the Interior to the War De- 
partment. 

Mr. Fenn. Mr. Speaker, the committee on Indian 
Affairs have reported a bill (H. R. 3541) to transfer 
the office of Indian Affairs to the War Department. 
Representing as I do a constituency vitally interested 
in a proper settlement of that question I should be 
derelict in duty if I failed to give my reasons for advo- 
cating the bill, and I take this opportunity to do so; and 
what I have to say will not be the expression of senti- 



APPENDIX 407 

ments drawn from Cooper's works of fiction, read in my 
boyhood, nor from Longfellow's metrical imaginings, 
but from the lessons taught by thirty-seven years' experi- 
ence in the frontier settlements of our country and 
among the Indian tribes. ****** 

No sickly sentimentality will solve this question. 
The cry that it is better to feed than fight the Indians 
has produced its legitimate fruits of murder and devas- 
tation. 

Your system of farming out the Indian agencies to 
different religious denominations as a means of civiliza- 
tion has only resulted in depopulating reservations and 
producing Indian hostilities, while your religious agents 
and religious teachers have plundered the Indians, plun- 
dered the government, and produced naught but discord 
and disorganization by attempting to force their peculiar 
religious faith upon savages and barbarous or partly 
civilized people. The fact should not be forgotten that 
the whole Indian race, by all their traditions, taught 
them from their childhood are impressed with the belief 
that the height of human virtue is to deprive their 
enemies of their property and take their lives, whether 
these enemies be the white race or the surrounding 
Indian tribes; that they all look upon and feel the white 
race to be their natural enemy; that before you can have 
the respect of an Indian he must feel that in some 
respect you are his superior. These facts are felt and 
known by every man who has had personal experience 
with the Indian race. 

The Indians on our western frontiers who have en- 
deavored to improve themselves, who are striving to be 
self-sustaining, who have profited by the examples of the 
early missionaries, who practiced what they preached, 
and the early pioneers who with those missionaries 
taught them by example the blessings of industry have 
been totally neglected under the policy of the last few 
years, until it has become proverbial among the Indians 
that those who endeavor to assist themselves receive no 
assistance from the Government, while the turbulent, 
threatening reptiles are pampered in their idleness. How 
can that state of affairs be remedied? The answer is 
plain and simple: By turning the Indian Bureau over 
to the War Department. The power will then be at 
hand to enforce obedience. The mass of machinery will 
be in the hands of men who have had experience with 
Indian character in frontier service, who will make 
pledges to be fulfilled, and threats, if you please, or 
rules and regulations to be enforced. 

The Christianizing influences will not be ignored. 
Schools, industrial habits and honest Christian mission- 
ary labor will be fostered. The vital subject of improv- 
ing the Indian race and making them self-sustaining 
will be enforced by the Government, and the appropria- 
tion for that purpose will insure an honest administra- 
tion of affairs. 

Mr. Speaker, our Indian policy has been radically 
wrong from its inception. It has been an anomaly, a 



408 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

monstrous incongruity, a burlesque upon us as a 
nation. 

The policy of treating savage tribes within the 
limits of our Government as independent nations, mak- 
ing solemn treaties with them as civilized nations, allow- 
ing them all the attributes of sovereignity, and while 
doing" so considering them as the nation's wards, to be 
supported in idleness, will always interpose a barrier 
to the advancement of the Indians in civilization. Let 
the reservation system and tribal authority be abrogated 
as soon as possible. Give every Indian, whether within 
or without a reservation, the same right to the enjoy- 
ment of the privileges of the homestead laws as white 
citizens. Let their land be inalienable and non-taxable 
for a term of years, say fifteen or twenty; break up 
your reservation as soon as possible, and with them all 
tribal relations. Give the Indian the first chance for 
selecting homesteads on the reservation so broken up. 
The suicidal policy that has been adopted and enforced by 
the Interior Department under your peace policy of making 
the Indian agencies, the United States forces in the 
field, and the military posts, "cities of refuge" for the 
protection of red-handed, indiscriminate murderers of 
men, women and children, the brutal outragers of 
mothers and daughters — committing their crimes, not in 
a state of war, but by stealth, in peaceful communities — 
to which the fiends can flee and have protection against 
trial and punishment for their crimes, has only been a 
premium offered to outrage, crime and bloodshed. 

"The fear o' hell's a hangman's whip, 
To hau'd the wretch in order." 

And the fear of certain and exemplary punishment for 
crime alone will restrain the brutal, be they of the 
white or Indian race. 

Last summer when the Nez Perce war broke out 
and there was imminent danger of the emissaries of the 
Nez Perces involving the Spokanes and other tribes in 
the conflict, and a white man had been killed by rene- 
gade Indians but a few miles from the main settlement 
of the Cceur d'Alenes, and the white settlers in their 
unprotected state abandoned their homes, leaving house- 
hold goods and all their effects unprotected and their 
growing crops subject to destruction, the Coeur d'Alenes 
became the protectors of the abandoned property of the 
settlers and guarded it fully and completely until the 
return of the owners. 

I now desire to bring to the suooort of my argu- 
ment the facts as to the working of the present system 
in the Territory of Idaho, which I have the honor to 
represent on this floor, and in the eastern portion of 
Washington Territory, which has fallen specially under 
my observation for some years. In southern Idaho we 
have the Fort Hall reservation, provided for the Sho- 
shones and Bannocks, which for several years has had 
liberal appropriations from the Government. It was as- 



APPENDIX 409 

signed to the Methodist church, although there were no 
Methodists among the Indians within its limits or among 
those expected to be removed or settled there. Faithful 
Roman Catholic fathers had long prior thereto estab- 
lished a mission among them. Large numbers had em- 
braced that faith and were rapidly advancing in civiliz- 
ation without one dollar expense for them or aid from 
the Government. Now for the sequel: Instead of the 
Christianizing and civilizing efforts of your religious 
peace-policy having produced any beneficial results, not- 
withstanding large appropriations for that purpose, 
there are not one-half as many Indians on the reserva- 
tion as were located within its limits when the same 
was established. 

None of the thousands who were expected to be 
located or removed there are to be found upon the reser- 
vation. Those driven off are scattered abroad, creating 
discord, robbing, stealing, and begging, a source of 
alarm to the settlers over one-third of Idaho; not only 
threatening hostilities at the reservation, and through- 
out the country, but they have actually commenced their 
murders. Troops have been hurredly assembled there 
to protect life and property, and a general outbreak is 
imminent and will only be averted by the presence of a 
large military force, or by the removal of the cause, 
namely, the present agent, held there by his church, 
and a change of policy, as in this bill provided, that will 
remove the root of the present deplorable state of affairs. 
At the Lemhi agency, in eastern Idaho, we are blessed 
with Rev. Mr. Sowers, who by his want of knowledge 
of Indian character, his stealings, plundering, and gen- 
eral unfaithfulness and inefficiency, has driven off one- 
half the Indians from the reservation in the last ten 
months, who are treatening to return with torch and 
rifle. 

The white settlers in the country, alarmed, are 
stockading, and steps are being taken to station troops 
for their protection, and nothing but a speedy change 
will arrest a bloody denouement. 

I now come to a commentary upon the present 
policy that would to God I had been spared the duty of 
making. I refer to the late Nez Perce war and its 
causes and the present state of that afflicted country, 
and the imminent dangers of another war in northern 
Idaho and eastern Washington that will dwarf the late 
Nez Perce war into comparative insignificance. This 
agency was assigned to the Presbyterians when the 
unholy system of farming out reservations to churches 
was inaugurated. A Presbyterian mission had been 
established within what is now the Nez Perce reserva- 
tion some forty years ago, by Rev. Mr. Spaulding, a 
worthy missionary, who labored long and ardently for 
the advancement of the Nez Perces. At the time of 
farming out the agencies to church organizations was 
inaugurated, there were as many Methodists as Presby- 
terians among the Nez Perces, and more Catholics than 
either. 



410 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

Under the blighting church influence, J. B. Mon- 
teith was appointed agent in February, 1871. From the 
day of his entering upon his duties as agent he com- 
menced sowing the seeds that during the summer of 
1877 produced their harvest of Indian war and desola- 
tion. On the 13th, 14th and 15th of June last twenty 
of my neighbors, men, women and children were horribly 
murdered by the Nez Perce Indians. Wives and mothers 
were outraged by the brutal fiends. Large numbers es- 
caped, wounded and disabled, to carry with them through 
life an evidence of Indian mercy when scourged to mad- 
ness by outrages perpetrated by their Indian agent. The 
country was laid waste. The loss of life among our 
citizens in northern Idaho in defending their homes and 
families; the murders and devastation in the Territory of 
Montana and in the county of Lemhi, Idaho Territory, 
while on their march; the heavy losses of life by the 
United States army in the field and among the citizen 
soldiery of Idaho and Montana; the enormous expense 
incurred in the conflicts, are familiar to this House and 
the country. 

And I here proclaim upon this floor, and I speak 
from personal knowledge, that in my opinion and in the 
opinion of nearly every man who lives anywhere in the 
vicinity of the scenes of hostilities in northern Idaho, 
I may say every man except a few who have been the 
tools and parasites of the agent, said J. B„ Montieth, the 
United States Indian agent for the Nez Perces, was 
the primary cause of every drop of blood and of every 
dollar's destruction of property and every dollar's ex- 
pense either by the Government or by individuals in the 
course of the Nez Perce war; unless it should be con- 
sidered he was but a tool in the hands of the Presby- 
terian Missionary Society, and if so, he may divide with 
them the responsibility. This may appear strange to 
persons who are not cognizant of the facts, but such 
will be the record made by the impartial historian.. 

I will as briefly as possible give the facts as they 
existed, as they will prove a stronger argument in be- 
half of the pending measure than volumes of theory. 
Until the advent of J. B. Monteith among them as agent 
the Nez Perces had been proverbially peaceful and the 
friends of the white settlers. Very few difficulties had 
ever occurred between the whites and the Indians. They 
were considerably advanced in civilization. Large num- 
bers of them were farmers, nearly all stock raisers, 
and many laboring faithfully for the white settlers at 
remunerative wages. I have not time to detail all of 
his iniquities fully, but I will say he first commenced a 
bitter warfare upon the old missionary, Rev. Mr. Spaul- 
ding, who was beloved by the mass of the tribe of 
every faith, and followed the onslaught upon him by 
an equally bitter warfare upon Rev. Mr. Cowle, Presby- 
terian missionary, beloved by the Indians under his 
charge, until he was driven from his field of labor, and 
is now proving his usefulness among the Spokanes with- 
out government aid. He (Monteith) bitterly opposed 



APPENDIX 411 

allowing Catholic services on the reservation, although 
they were the most numerous denomination of Chris- 
tians located on the reservation and of those who lived 
without its limits. Money was raised for building a 
Catholic church upon the reservation — much of it fur- 
nished by persons not of the Catholic faith, the donors 
knowing full well that the Catholic missionaries ever 
labored in behalf of peace, quietude and good will. Agent 
Monteith refused to allow the church to be built. Then 
followed a long correspondence with the Interior Depart- 
ment, the agent denying the right of the Catholics to 
erect the church, and protesting against it, resulting 
in an order from the Indian department directing Father 
Cataldo, the priest in charge, should be allowed to erect 
a "church and necessary missionary buildings on the 
Nez Perce reservation." 

The church was erected some seven miles from 
the agency. Soon thereafter steps were taken to erect 
a school house near the church. This was met by an 
order from Agent Monteith not to erect the school house, 
claiming it was not "a necessary missionary building." 

He has persecuted the Methodists, and allowed his 
father, a Presbyterian minister and employe of his at 
the agency, without reproof or reparation, to threaten 
v/ith uplifted cane and drive from a church at the 
agency, built by government funds for the use of the 
Indians for their purposes of worship, a native Meth- 
odist Indian preacher, named Timothy, a talented and 
worthy son of an important chief, who was an early 
convert to Christianity under the missionary labors of 
Rev. Mr. Spaulding, simply because in the course of his 
sermon, he (Timothy) saw fit to claim tolerance for his 
faith in common with others. But the crowning infamy 
of Monteith was his base and slanderous charges made 
to the Interior Department, in the early part of the 
year 1877, against the Rev. Father Cataldo, the priest 
at the Nez Perce Catholic mission, for the purpose of 
excluding him from the reservation, that he was using 
his influence to keep Joseph and the non-treaty Indians 
who were without the reservation from coming thereon, 
and that he was stirring up dissentions; all of which, 
he, Monteith, was compelled to admit to a council held 
v/ith the Nez Perces in May last, in the presence of 
General Howard, was false in every particular. He 
has continually evidenced favoritism in the distribution 
of annuities, pampering a few parasites at the expense 
of the tribe; interfered with the election of chiefs, and 
used his power to elect his tools; been false to every 
pledge made by which, in the early part of his administra- 
tion, he induced Indians residing without the reservation 
to leave or dispose of farms and come upon the reser- 
vation; ****** 

Information was sent time and time again by the 
settlers to both the military authorities at Fort Lapwai 
and to the agent that an outbreak was imminent and 
hourly expected; but so little regard had the agent for 
the iives and property of the white citizens, or so 



412 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

limited was his knowledge of the character of the In- 
dians under his charge, and so slight his appreciation of 
the legitimate results of his own vicious administration, 
that while it was notorious to the country that the dis- 
affected Indians were holding councils and performing 
their military exercises daily within a short distance of 
the reservation, and making every arrangement for the 
conflict, and within twenty days of the outbreak, he, 
J. B. Monteith, by letter, authorized the selling of ammu- 
nition to the Indians to enable them more effectually to 
carry out their hellish designs. ****** 
The interests of humanity, economy, efficient public 
service, permanent advancement of the Indians in civiliz- 
ation, and an early disposition of the whole vexed Indian 
question by rendering them self-supporting, demands 
the passage of the bill under consideration. 



FORTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, THIRD SESSION. 
December 2, 1878 to March 3, 1879. 

Fenn, Stephen S. 

No remarks during this session. 



FORTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 
March 18, 1879 to July 1, 1879. 

Ainslie, George. 

Introduced eleven bills. No remarks this session. 



FORTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. 
December 1, 1879 to June 16, 1880. 

Ainslie, George. 

Introduced thirteen bills. Petitions and papers pre- 
sented by, from fourteen persons and associations. No 
remarks this session. 



FORTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, THIRD SESSION. 
December 6, 1880 to March 3, 1881. 

Ainslie, George. 

Introduced -three bills. Presented eight petitions. 
No remarks in this session. 



FORTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS. 

(Special Session of the Senate). 
March 4 to May 20 and October 10 to October 29, 1881. 



APPENDIX 413 

FORTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 
December 5, 1881 to August 8, 1882. 

Ainslie, George. 

Introduced twenty bills. 
Remarks by, on Alaska, Admission of Delegate from. 

Mr. Ainslie. I desire to say a word in regard to 
this matter. I am glad to hear the claim made by the 
chairman of the committee on Elections that this is a 
question of privilege — the question whether the people of 
Alaska are entitled to representation on this floor. 

I am not acquainted with the gentleman who is 
claiming the seat; I never saw him in my life. But I 
am glad to find the committee on Elections, represented 
by its honored chairman, claiming that this is a question 
of privilege, and declaring that the people of an unrepre- 
sented portion of the United States are entitled to some 
little consideration in this House. 

I have been here for nearly three years; I have been 
on the roll of the House, and I have drawn my salary 
very regularly, but I have never known my people to 
be represented at least by a vote. We have just the 
same rights that the colonists had a hundred years ago 
when they rebelled against Great Britain; we are under 
taxation without representation. 

I am glad the committee on Elections is claiming the 
right now of a portion of the population of the United 
States, even though they be among the icebergs of 
Alaska, to be represented on this floor. Whether it is a 
question of privilege or not I do not know. But I hope 
it will be considered a question of privilege that the 
people of all portions of the United States shall be repre- 
sented, and I hope the committee will frame a bill that 
will give the people of the territories a right to be 
represented by a vote on this floor. 



FORTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. 
December 4, 1882 to March 3, 1883. 
Ainslie, George. 

No remarks during this session. 



FORTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 
December 3, 1883 to July 7, 1884. 

Singiser, Theodore F. 

Introduced fourteen bills. No remarks in this ses- 
sion. 



FORTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. 
December 1, 1884 to March 3, 1885. 

Singiser, Theodore F. 

Appointed on committee to attend opening of New 
Orleans Exposition. No remarks during this session. 



414 EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 

FORTY-NINTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 
December 7, 1885 to August 5, 1886. 

H alley, John, Remarks by, on Idaho and Washington Ter- 
ritories. 

Mr. Hailey. Mr. Speaker, I desire to say but little 
on this question. This pan-handle of Idaho, about which 
there has been so much talk, has been a bone of conten- 
tion for the last twenty years. A large majority of the 
people living in that portion of the territory have wanted 
annexation to Washington Territory. There is no doubt 
about that fact in my mind. The people of the southern 
portion of Idaho, however, have objected to it until the 
last two years. Up to that time their objection was a 
serious one, Three years ago last fall the people of the 
north were so embittered against the people of the south 
because they could not be annexed that both political 
parties in these northern counties refused to participate 
in the territorial conventions. They called an independ- 
ent convention for the purpose of nominating a man to 
run on the annexation question with a view of sending 
him to Washington city to work for the annexation of 
those counties to Washington Territory whether he was 
elected or not. But the Republican candidate was a little 
sharper than the Democratic candidate, and he rushed 
up north and pledged himself to go for annexation, and 
they took him as their candidate with the understanding 
down south, I am told by good authority, that he did 
not intend to work very hard for it. 

However, he secured almost the unanimous vote of 
these northern counties, and was elected. But although 
he was elected, he did not secure their annexation. At 
the recent election, or rather at the conventions which 
preceded the election, the Republicans placed a section 
in their platform pledging their party to do all in their 
power to secure the annexation, and their delegate also 
was pledged to do whatever was in his power, if elected, 
to annex these northern counties to Washington Terri- 
tory. The Democratic party took the matter under ad- 
visement, talked it over, and after some consideration of 
the subject, concluded that they would also put the same 
plank in their platform, or substantially the same thing, 
favoring this annexation. I gave them due notice that 
if the plank was inserted in the platform and they nom- 
inated me, that if elected I would try to give this portion 
of the territory away to Washington Territory. 

I now propose to keep good the pledges made by my 
party and myself by trying to have them annexed to 
Washington Territory. They have expressed a desire 
to go to Washington, and I do not propose to keep them 
from going; they have been very troublesome. I hope 
the bill will pass to annex them to Washington Territory, 
because we can get along very well without them. It 
has been clearly understood for years that the people of 
those counties themselves wanted to be annexed to Wash- 
ington Territory. The legislature in 1885 passed a 



APPENDIX 415 

memorial requesting that these counties be annexed to 
Washington Territory, but with the proviso that they 
should pay their portion of the debt of the territory 
just as this bill provides. 

Now at this late date some of these northern coun- 
ties, I understand, are kicking about it when they find 
that they can really be annexed to Washington Territory, 
and they do not want it near so bad as they thought they 
did. Some of them say they prefer to go to Montana 
Territory, and for that reason they send in here and op- 
pose the passage of the bill which proposed to give them 
they very thing they have been asking for so many 
years, and I therefore insist upon the passage of the bill. 



FORTY-NINTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. 
December 6, 1886 to March. 3, 1887. 

Hailey, John. 

No remarks during this session. 



FIFTIETH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 
December 5, 1887 to October 20, 1888. 

Dubois, Fred T., Remarks by, on Polygamy. 

Resolved, That the Attorney-General be requested to 
furnish to the House of Representatives the number of 
convictions for polygamy, adultery, and unlawful co-habi- 
tation had in the Territories of Utah and Idaho under 
the provisions of the anti-polygamy law of 1882, and the 
act of 1882 amendatory thereof, and the act of March 3, 
1887, and the dates thereof as shown by the records of 
the Department of Justice, together with the amount of 
fines, forfeitures and costs collected from said prosecu- 
tions, with the date of judgments under which said sev- 
eral sums were collected; a list of pardons granted by 
the President of the United States to persons convicted 
of such crimes of polygamy, adultery and unlawful 
co-habitation, respectively, in the said territories of 
Utah and Idaho, giving the name, date of sentence, time 
of imprisonment, amount of fine, date of pardon, and the 
reason for granting the same in each case. 

Mr. Dubois. Mr. Speaker, I am very glad that the 
committee on Judiciary saw fit to enlarge the scope of 
the resolution which I had the honor to introduce. I am 
satisfied that a great deal of valuable information will 
be furnished as a consequence of the adoption of the 
resolution. In addition to the request which was em- 
bodied in my original resolution, that a list should be 
furnished of the pardons which have been granted to 
those convicted of unlawful co-habitation, adultery and 
polygamy, the committee have added a request that the 
number of convictions had for these various crimes shall 



416 EARLY HISTORY OP IDAHO 

also be furnished. This information will absolutely and 
utterly refute a statement which has been brazenly made 
and reiterated by the agents of the Mormon church here 
that only one and one-half per cent, or less, of their 
people are in polygamy. ****** 

I stand by the statement which I had the honor to 
make before the Senate committee, that about one-half 
of the adult Mormons in Utah are in polygamy. As re- 
gards Idaho, I had the evidence before me as United 
States marshal of the territory to demonstrate that at 
least one-third of the adult Mormons in that territory 
are in polygamy. ******* 

Remarks on Tariff. 

Amended by striking out "lead ore and lead dross, 
three-fourths of 1 cent per pound." 

Mr. Dubois. Mr. Chairman, in behalf of the terri- 
tory I represent, I desire to enter my protest against the 
section of this bill. The fact that one hundred thousand 
people living in Idaho have no vote upon this measure, 
the fact that millions of dollars, in labor as well as in 
cash, would be affected by its provisions if it should 
become a law, ought to add weight to the protest that I 
now make. 

The development of Idaho has been carried to just 
that extent that great lead and silver mines have been 
opened, and enormous sums invested in the machinery 
necessary to develop them. The territory has just started 
upon a career of unexampled prosperity. But the mines 
of Idaho, those that are attracting the most attention and 
contributing most to the growing wealth of the country 
are low-grade silver-lead mines, that need the fostering 
care of the government. ****** 



FIFTIETH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. 
December 3, 1888, to March 3, 1889. 

Dubois, Fred T., Remarks by, on Admission of Idaho. 

Mr. Dubois. Mr. Speaker, I take it for granted that 
there will be no objection, founded on sound public policy 
or justice, to the admission of North and South Dakota, 
Montana, and Washington. 

There seems to be a doubt in the minds of some 
members as to the expediency of admitting New Mexico. 
No argument has been advanced to prove that the citi- 
zens of New Mexico are not law-abiding and attached to 
the principles of our government. ***** 

The remarks which have been made by the various 
delegates whose territories are included in the bill under 
discussion apply with full force, clearness and fairness 
to Idaho. They could be iterated and reiterated in a 
hundred different ways, yet the truth would not be half 
told. 

I will not at this particular time in this discussion 
insist on a recognition of the just claims of the Terri- 



APPENDIX 417 

tory of Idaho, because it might retard the justice which 
I believe and hope you are prepared to mete out to our 
sister territories. I will please my fancy in the hope 
that the journey on this road of fairness to those brave 
and loyal people, who have been harassed and handi- 
capped so long beyond the usual probationary period of 
territorial government will bring such unqualified peace 
and contentment to your minds that you will quickly 
recognize and pass upon the appeal of Idaho. 

I do not ask immediate statehood. My people do not 
claim admission at once. We ask an enabling act which 
will definitely fix a time when we can assume the re- 
sponsibilities and blessings of a state. We care not what 
conditions you impose as to population or resources. It 
makes no difference to us whether we come in under the 
ordinance of 1787, which requires 60,000 free inhabi- 
tants, or whether we are to have the number equal to 
the ratio of representation for a member of Congress. 



STATEMENT OF MILEAGE PAID TO DELEGATES 
FROM IDAHO, TERRITORY OF. 

Thirty-Eighth Congress to Fiftieth Congress, Totals Paid 
to Each. 

Note — These figures were taken from the personal 
ledger accounts of the delegates, the ledgers being found 
in the Treasury Department. The figures are authentic 
and correct, having been compared. 

William H. Wallace (Sworn in Feb. 3, 1864). Cr. 

38th Congress, 1863-65. 1863 

Dec. 7, by mileage $6,192.00 

1864 
Dec. 5, by mileage 6,192.00 



(@ 40c per mile) $12,384.00 



E. D. Holbrook Cr. 

39th Congress, 1865-67. 1865 

Dec. 4, by mileage 

(7,500 @ 40c) ....$6,000.00 
1866 
Dec. 4, by mileage, 

(7,500 @ 20c) .... 3,000.00 



$9,000.00 



E. D. Holbrook Cr. 

40th Congress, 1867-69. 1867 

Dec. 2, by mileage ..$3,000.00 

1868 
Dec. 7, by mileage, 

(@ 20c per mile) 3,000.00 



27 B. H. I. 



$6,000.00 



41S 



EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 



Jacob K. Shafer 

41st Congress, 1869-71. 



Cr. 

1869 
Mar. 4, by mileage 

(1st Ses., 7,500 

@ 20c) $3,000.00 

Dec. 4, by mileage 

(2nd Ses., 3,066 

@ 20c) 1,226.40 

1870 
Dec. 6, by mileage 

(3rd Session) 1,226.40 



Samuel A. Merritt 

42nd Congress, 1871-73. 



$5,452.80 
Cr. 



1871 
Mar. 4, by mileage 

(3,065 @ 20c) ....$1,226.00 
Dec. 4, by mileage .. 1,226.00 

1872 
Dec. 2, by mileage .. 1,226.00 



$3,678.00 



Note — Each member of this Congress was paid mile- 
age; this ledger account (Merritt's) shows that he was 
credited with the mileage as set forth opposite and that 
he was paid such mileage as appears from the debit side 
of his ledger account. The account was closed at the 
expiration of the 42nd congress, and balanced. This 
supplemental account appears following the accounts of 
each member of that congress: 



Samuel A. Merritt 

42nd Congress. 

1873 Dr 1873 

Mar. 4, to mileage* 3,678.00 | Mar. 4 
Mar. 4, to Speaker's 

certificate (cash) 1,322.00 



I 

I 

$5,000.00! f 



Cr. 

by in- 
creased compen- 
sation $5,000.00 



$5,000.00 



This credit of $5,000 was under the provisions of the 
so-called "Salary Grab Act" approved March 3, 1873, 
which increased the compensation of each member and 
delegate of the 42nd congress in the sum of $5,000 or at 
the rate of $2,500 per annum, with the proviso that from 
that sum of increase should be deducted such sum or 
sums as were paid to each for mileage during the 42nd 
congress. Thus while mileage was paid for the 42nd 
congress, the amount of the mileage was deducted from 
the extra compensation paid to such members under the 
Act of March 3, 1873. 

* Deducted from extra compensation. 
(This account to illustrate that mileage was paid 
during 42nd Congress). 



John Hailey 

43rd Congress, 1873-75. 



APPENDIX 419 

Cr. 

1874 
Feb. 4, by expenses $ 430.00 

1875 
Jan. 4, by mileage 1,065.60 



$1,495.60 



Note — For the first session of the 43rd congress, 
actual traveling expenses were paid in lieu of mileage. 



T. W. Bennett 
44th Congress, 1875-77. 



Cr. 

1875 
Jan. 12, by mileage $1,141.20 



Note on the ledger: "Succeeded by S. S. Fenn.' 



S. S. Fenn 
44th Congress, 1875-77. 



Cr. 

1876 
June 24, by mile'ge $1,323.20 
Dec. 15, by mileage 1,323.20 



$2,646.40 
(First debit on this account is June 24, 1876). 



S. S. Fenn 

45th Congress, 1877-79. 



Cr. 

1877 
Dec. 11, by mileage $1,323.20 

1878 
Dec. 6, by mileage 1,323.20 



$2,646.40 



George Ainslie 
46th Congress, 1879-81. 



George Ainslie 
47th Congress, 1881-83. 



Cr. 

1879 
Dec. 17, by mileage, $1,111.20 

1880 
Dec. 11, by mileage, 1,111.20 



$2,222.40 
Cr. 



1881 
Dec. 19, by mileage $1,111.20 

1882 
Dec. 9, by mileage, 1,111.20 

$2,222.40 



420 



EARLY HISTORY OF IDAHO 



T. F. Singiser 
48th Congress, 1883-85. 



John Hailey 

49th Congress, 1885-87. 



Cr. 

1883 
Dec. 10, by mileage $1,120.00 

1884 
Dec. 11, by mileage 1,120.00 



$2,240.00 



Cr. 

1885 
Dec.21,by mileage, $1,070.40 

1886 
Dec. 9, by mileage 1,070.40 



$2,140.80 



Fred T. Dubois 

50th Congress, 1887-89. 



Cr. 

1887 
Dec. 16, by mileage $ 990.40 

1888 
Dec. 4, by mileage 990.40 

$1,980.80 




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